Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “mysterious foreign trips” and said he should clarify “what is the real source of funding for these tours”.
Gupta made the remarks after the BJP’s official handle X shared a post showing Rahul’s alleged expenses during his foreign trips and pointed out the disproportion between the expenses and Rahul’s declared income.
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“estimated $Rs 60 crore was spent on 54 foreign trips between 2004 and 2026. However, his declared income is only $“Rs 11 lakh crore, which is five times less than the expenditure,” the BJP’s official handle wrote in a post.
The Delhi Chief Minister shared the post and said that Rahul is spending five times his declared income. “If the expenses for these trips were borne by foreign parties, this is a direct violation of the rules. On the other hand, if these expenses were private, why were they hidden in official statements?
“I wrote.
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Gupta also questioned Rahul’s commitment to transparency, saying his “ambiguity raises serious legal questions.”
“This opacity by the Leader of the Opposition, who claims transparency, raises serious legal questions. Rahul Gandhi will have to answer for these unknown expenses,” the post added.
The BJP’s fresh attack on the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha comes on the back of his criticism of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘seven calls’ as the Prime Minister urged citizens to adopt cost control measures in view of the West Asia war that has disrupted global supply chains and affected fuel supplies across the world. Modi asked people to prioritize working from home, reduce fuel consumption, avoid traveling abroad for a year, adopt swadeshi products, reduce consumption of cooking oil, shift to natural agriculture and limit purchase of gold to help the country cope with global economic pressures caused by international conflicts.
BJP’s Sambit Patra also raised questions about Rahul’s foreign visits and finances as he alleged that the opposition leader spent nearly $60 crore on 54 foreign trips over the last 22 years.
In a press conference, Patra claimed that Rahul Gandhi had undertaken several foreign trips while holding elected office, and claimed that details regarding the source of funding for these visits were not public.
“Rahul Gandhi has been in elected office for nearly 22 years. In these years, he has traveled abroad several times. Officially, the announced foreign trips amount to 54. These tours are public, but their funding is not public,” Batra was quoted as saying by ANI.
He further claimed that three to four people accompanied Rahul Gandhi on every foreign visit and claimed that the total expenditure on these trips amounted to nearly Rs. $60 Crores. “On each of his foreign trips, he had around 3-4 people traveling with him. His total foreign travel expenses amounted to around 3-4 people. $60 crore,” the BJP leader claimed.
Batra wondered how to finance the expenses of visits. “We have details of Rahul Gandhi’s income from 2013-14 to 2022-23. In 10 years, Rahul Gandhi’s income was $11 Crores. With income $11 crores spent by Rahul Gandhi $60 crores,” he claimed.
The BJP leader also 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 financing done by the Government of India or by some foreign agency? If there is foreign financing, the provisions of FCRA will apply. If it is personal financing, it should be declared under income tax laws,” Batra said.
