New Delhi:Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi advanced his trip to the United States by three days, sources said on Friday. Rahul will now leave for the US on May 28. He will be attending a program at Stanford University and meet the Indian diaspora on May 29 and 30.
Rahul was earlier scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to the US on May 31. According to his earlier tour plan, Rahul Gandhi will hold a rally of about 5,000 NRIs in New York's Madison Square Garden. He will also meet politicians and entrepreneurs.
Earlier in March, after his last foreign visit, Rahul Gandhi made headlines as he returned from London after giving speeches at Cambridge University, critical of the government and throwing light on Indian democracy. Rahul Gandhi delivered a speech at Cambridge University, at a convention organized by the Association of Journalists in London.
"Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space," Rahul Gandhi said at Cambridge University in the UK.
Also read:Rahul Gandhi to visit USA on May 31 for 10 days
"The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," he had added. The remarks by the Congress MP gave fresh ammunition to the ruling BJP, who demanded an apology from Gandhi. Several of his statements in the UK stoked controversy in India.
BJP intensified its attack on Rahul Gandhi with party chief JP Nadda alleging he is a "permanent part of the anti-India toolkit".The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to apologise for remarks that he made in London about democracy in India; the Congress insisted on the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations of dubious financial transactions and dishonest business practices against the Adani Group of companies.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on an official state visit to the United States on June 22. During his visit, PM Modi will be hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at a state dinner at the White House, the Ministry of External Affairs informed through a press statement last week.
