New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday trained guns at the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP), Rahul Gandhi, over his multiple foreign visits undertaken over the past two decades, questioning the money trail and also the “source of funding” behind his “luxurious globe-trotting”.
In a pointed attack, BJP MP Sambit Patra said the declared income of Congress MP was Rs 11 crore, but he has spent about Rs 60 crore on 54 foreign trips across continents, including Europe and the Middle East. He questioned where the LoP was drawing funds for such trips.
Addressing a press conference at party headquarters, Sambit Patra demanded that the LoP come clean on the entity or individual who was funding his visits to foreign shores over these years.
“We have the details of Rahul Gandhi’s declared income from 2013-14 to 2022-23. In the past ten years, his income was Rs 11 crore. But the expense on his foreign tours in the past 22 years has been Rs 60 crore,” Patra said.
Patra also demanded that the Congress leader reveal the source of funding for his trips to foreign shores.
“Who paid for Rahul’s trips — Foreign entities? Then, where are FCRA approvals? Personal funds? Then, where are the tax and forex disclosures? Someone else, then the questions become even bigger,” the BJP leader asked.
Stating that “the travel trail is public, the money trail is missing”, the BJP MP also raised concerns over the ‘opaqueness and secrecy’ around Rahul’s foreign trips, given his key role and position in Parliament.
“There is a transparency issue and a matter of national security. Where is India’s Leader of Opposition travelling? Who is he meeting? Who is funding these trips?” Patra said.
He also stated that Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trips, particularly undertaken during 2024-25, came under increased scrutiny after the CRPF raised a flag over being ‘uninformed’ about these.
In a specific reference to Rahul Gandhi’s recent Oman tour in May 2026, Patra said there was no acknowledgement of the trip, no declaration of the host and no details of the public programmes. The Congress party also didn’t comment on this visit.
(IANS)
