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‘ ₹60 crore, 54 tours in 2 years’: Rekha Gupta joins BJP chorus on Rahul Gandhi's ‘mysterious foreign trips’
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta questioned Rahul Gandhi's commitment to transparency, saying his "opacity raises serious legal questions."
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday took potshots at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his ‘mysterious foreign trips’ and said that he should clarify ‘what the real source of funding for these tours is.’
Gupta made the remarks after the BJP's official X handle shared a post showing Rahul's alleged expenses over his foreign trips and pointed at the disproportionality between the expenses and Rahul's declared income.
“An estimated ₹60 crore was spent on 54 foreign trips between 2004-2026. However, his declared income is only ₹11 crore, which is 5 times less than the expenses,” the BJP's official handle wrote in a post.
The Delhi CM shared the post and said Rahul spends five times more than his declared income. “If the expenses for these trips have been borne by foreign entities, then it is a direct violation of the rules. On the other hand, if this expense is private, then why was it concealed in official declarations?
" she wrote.
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Gupta also questioned Rahul's commitment to transparency, saying his "opacity raises serious legal questions."
"This opacity from the Leader of the Opposition, who claims transparency, raises serious legal questions. Rahul Gandhi will have to answer for these anonymous expenses," the post added.
The fresh BJP attack on Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha comes in the backdrop of his criticism of Prime Minister Modi's "seven appeals" where the PM urged citizens to adopt cost control measures in view of the West Asia war that has disrupted global supply chains and impacted fuel supplies across the world. Modi asked people to prioritise work from home, reduce fuel consumption, avoid foreign travel for a year, adopt Swadeshi products, reduce cooking oil consumption, shift to natural farming and curb gold purchases to help the country cope with global economic pressures caused by international conflicts.
BJP's Sambit Patra has also raised questions on Rahul's foreign visits and the fundings as he alleged that the Leader of Opposition had spent nearly ₹60 crore on 54 overseas trips over the past 22 years.
Addressing a press conference, Patra claimed that Rahul Gandhi had undertaken several foreign trips while holding elected office and alleged that details regarding the source of funding for these visits were not public.
"LoP Rahul Gandhi has been in an elected position for nearly 22 years. In these years, he has travelled abroad multiple times. Officially, the declared foreign trips amount to 54. These tours are public, but their funding is not public," Patra was quoted as saying by ANI.
He further alleged that three to four people accompanied Rahul Gandhi on each foreign visit and claimed that the total expenditure on these trips amounted to nearly ₹60 crore. "On each of his foreign trips, about 3-4 people have travelled with him. The total expense of his foreign trips has been ₹60 crore," the BJP leader alleged.
Patra questioned how the expenditure on the visits was financed. "We have the details of Rahul Gandhi's income from 2013-14 to 2022-23. In 10 years, Rahul Gandhi's income was ₹11 crore. With an income of ₹11 crore, Rahul Gandhi has spent ₹60 crore," he alleged.
The BJP leader further questioned whether the trips were funded personally, by the government, or by foreign entities. "The question that arises is -- when he travels abroad, is the funding being done by the Government of India or by some foreign agency? If there is foreign funding, then provisions under FCRA apply. If it is personal funding, then it must be declared under income tax laws," Patra said.
