NEW DELHI: After Congress criticism over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visits to five nations, the BJP on Thursday questioned what it described as Rahul Gandhi’s 54 “traceable” foreign trips during his 22 years in elected office.
BJP National Information and Technology Department head Amit Malviya, in a post on X said, "Rahul Gandhi had undertaken at least 54 traceable foreign trips while holding elected office and alleged that details regarding the source of funding for these visits were not public.
“ Rahul Gandhi, a sitting MP of India’s largest opposition party has taken at least 54 traceable foreign trips across 22 years in elected office . Italy, London, New York, Berlin, Vietnam, Cambodia, Qatar, UAE, Maldives, Bahrain, Singapore, Thailand, Oman. The trips are public”. But, Malviya said “The funding trail is not," he added.
Questioning the estimated expenditure on the visits and comparing it with Rahul Gandhi’s declared income in Form 26 affidavits, Malviya said, “ Using publicly visible travel patterns, security movement, five-star lodging norms, long-haul routing, staff accompaniment and event logistics, the visible foreign travel universe between 2004 and 2026 models to approximately Rs 60 crore in expenditure. Across the same period, the MP’s own sworn Form 26 affidavits disclose cumulative income of roughly Rs 11 crore”.
Referring to a 2015 South-East Asia tour, Malviya said, “ The arithmetic does not close. One 2015 South-East Asia tour alone is modelled at approximately Rs 4.5 crore. The declared annual income for that same period: Rs 86.55 lakh. A single trip costing 5.2 times the year’s declared income”.
“ Foreign entities funded the travel. If so, where are the mandatory FCRA Section 6 permissions from the Ministry of Home Affairs?”. He added that another possibility could be “Personal funds paid for the trips. If so, where are the corresponding disclosures in Income Tax filings, forex records, audited accounts and asset declarations?”. He also said, “Someone else paid. Then the question becomes even more serious: undisclosed gifts, foreign hospitality, unaccounted expenditure or black money," Malviya further stated.
"FCRA Section 6 requires prior written permission before any elected office-bearer accepts foreign hospitality from a foreign source. He also referred to the Representation of the People Act, the Income Tax Act and Lokpal provisions regarding disclosures and audited accounts," he added.
Quoting a CRPF letter dated September 10, 2025, Malviya said, “ The CRPF letter dated 10 September 2025 reportedly identified six undeclared foreign trips between December 2024 and September 2025 alone: Italy,Vietnam, Dubai,Qatar,London ,Malaysia. Now comes the Oman lead from May 2026. No public itinerary. No declared host. No sanction file. No audited disclosure. No FCRA permission on record”.
“Because this is not about rhetoric. It is about records. Either: the permissions exist, the party accounting exists, the tax disclosures exist, the forex trail exists, or they do not. If foreign universities, lobby groups, diaspora organisations or overseas entities paid for travel, lodging or hospitality, then the law required prior disclosure and approval," he added.
Malviya further said, “If personal funds paid, the expenditure should appear transparently in declared filings. If party funds paid, the audited line item should exist in Election Commission records. The silence is the story. Fifty-four foreign trips.Rs 60 crore modelled spend. Rs 11 crore declared income. Show one clean paper trail. One. Until then, the question remains: #WhoFundsRahul?”.
