The ruling BJP on Thursday targeted Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his foreign visits, alleging that he undertook multiple “undisclosed” trips abroad and demanded an explanation for his recent visit to Oman.
“In September 2025 the CRPF had to give a note on the undisclosed visits…The CRPF officially put it on record that it’s a serious issue that these trips were undertaken without sticking to the rules and protocols for protectees…” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra told a press conference.
“Where is India’s Leader of Opposition travelling? Who is he meeting? Who’s funding these trips? He has made 54 foreign trips to countries such as Italy, the UK, the US, Germany, Vietnam, Singapore, Bahrain, the Maldives, Qatar, and the UAE.
Most of these trips are on record, with public host pages, press itineraries, parliamentary absence records, and photo evidence. My point is that while these trips were public, the funding trail behind them is not public,” Patra alleged.
“Rahul Gandhi’s 54 foreign trips in 22 years is estimated to have cost Rs 60 crore whereas his declared income was about Rs 11 crore,” Patra said adding, "who paid the money".
He said the Congress must clarify details regarding the six alleged undisclosed visits mentioned in a communication sent by the CRPF to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Referring to photographs circulating on social media showing Gandhi in Oman earlier this month, the BJP leader alleged that the trip had also not been officially declared.
“This Oman visit is the 7th undeclared trip. There is no acknowledgement of the trip, no declaration of the host and no details of the public programmes. The Congress party has not also made a comment on this visit,” Patra said.
The BJP MP further questioned whether permissions required from the Union home ministry had been obtained for the visits, particularly if any of them were undertaken in an official capacity.
“We have asked the Congress four questions: did the visit happen; who hosted the trip, was it an Indian or a foreigner; if it was a foreigner, where is the requisite FCRA (section 6) MHA approval letter and where is the bank statement for forex purchase…where is the bank statement for audit,” he said.
Patra also alleged discrepancies between Gandhi’s declared income and the estimated expenditure on his foreign travel.
“He spent about ₹39 crore on 20 big trips and another ₹20 crore on the remainder. There are also mismatches between the spending and his income. For instance he spent ₹4.5 crore in 2015 for a South East Asia tour which was five times his declared income that year,” he said.
Reading out a list of foreign visits and their estimated expenses, Patra questioned the source of funding for the trips.
“ Rs 70 lakh was spent on his UAE visit, again disclosed. In Vietnam he spent ₹8 crore but there was no declaration of the same.
From December 30, 2024 to January 9, 2025 during the mourning period for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he went on an undeclared trip to Italy.
In March 2018 he made a surprise visit to his grandmother during Holi. And ₹3.2 crore was spent on his visit to Berkeley,” Patra said.
This is not the first time the BJP has raised the issue of Gandhi’s foreign trips but this time they questioned the costs and funding.
Citing a trip as an example, the BJP claimed that Gandhi’s 60-day South Asia window through Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia is modelled at Rs 4.5 crore against a sworn annual income of Rs 86.55 lakh.
Patra further claimed that between 2004 and 2026, Gandhi made 54 personal foreign trips on which around Rs 60 crore was spent, excluding official government or parliamentary visits. The BJP alleged that despite all this, Gandhi refuses to explain “who funds his luxury global lifestyle”.
“Based on the income details declared by him in Form 26 affidavits from assessment years 2013–14 to 2022–23, his total declared income over 10 years was Rs 11 crore, while the alleged expenditure on foreign trips was Rs 60 crore,” Patra said, adding, Rahul Gandhi’s “declared income stands at a mere Rs 11 crore—a figure five times lower than the expenditure incurred”.
The BJP also posted on X: “Unanswered questions: If the expenditure was funded by foreign sources, where is the requisite FCRA approval? And if it was privately funded, why is it not reflected in his tax returns? While the maintenance of such records is mandatory under the law, their absence raises serious questions”.
No comments:
Post a Comment