Amid reports strongly suggesting that Rahul Gandhi’s close aide Jitin Prasada was set to jump ship and join the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress leader today refrained from giving a direct answer, angering National Conference president and Congress ally in Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah. There is a strong buzz that Prasada, who is considered close to Rahul Gandhi, is likely to cross over to the BJP.

However, when the senior Congress leader was asked about the possible move, he refused to answer and instead called the question ‘hypothetical’. “There should be some basis for such a question. Why should I answer a hypothetical question?” Prasada said.

This response did not go down well with Omar Abdullah who pointed out in a tweet that if the reports are untrue, Prasada should deny it altogether. “Why can’t Jitin Prasada just give a categorical denial? It’s hardly a hypothetical question when every news channel is carrying reports.”

The Congress fielded Prasada from Dhaurahra in Uttar Pradesh. Later, the party reportedly asked him to contest from Lucknow. Prasada had won from Dhaurahra in 2009 but lost the seat to the BJP in 2014. It has been reported that the Congress leader is upset over the proposed change in his constituency and may jump ship.

The BJP on Thursday released its first list naming 184 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party has fielded Rajnath Singh from Lucknow. However, it has not announced its candidate from Dhaurahra. Jitin Prasada’s exit could be a setback for the Congress which wants to revive its fortune in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh which has 80 parliamentary seats.

The SP and BSP have already snubbed the Congress by refusing to accommodate it in the alliance. In the 2014 general elections, the grand old party could win just two seats — Amethi and Raebareli.

The Congress has witnessed multiple high-profile exits from across the country in the last few weeks. Earlier this month, senior leader Tom Vadakkan left the Congress to join the BJP. He spent over two decades in the party and was close to chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Vadakkan cited his disappointment with the Congress over questioning the Balakot air strikes as the reason behind his exit.