New Delhi, 14 May. BJP MP Sambit Patra has targeted Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the funding of money spent on his personal foreign trip. He said that Rahul Gandhi traveled to 54 foreign countries. In which Rs 60 crores were spent. The surprising thing is that Rahul Gandhi’s income details are Rs 11 crore, so where did the funding come from during his personal travel. BJP MP Sambit Patra, while presenting the details of his 54 foreign trips in 22 years, said that I would like to tell that the prominent leader of India’s largest opposition party i.e. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been in elected office for almost 22 years. How many times has he traveled abroad in these 22 years?
According to declared information and publicly available data, he has made 54 foreign trips. These included trips to Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Bahrain, Maldives, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and his unannounced visits to Muscat and Oman on May 3, 2026, according to footage circulated on ‘X’ and other social media platforms. The BJP MP said most of these visits are on record, with evidence available in the form of public host pages, press itineraries, parliamentary absence records and photographs.
What I mean to say is that while these trips were public, the sources of funding behind them are not. On each of his foreign trips, around 3-4 people have accompanied him. The total expenditure of his foreign trips has been Rs 60 crore. We have the income details of Rahul Gandhi from 2013-14 to 2022-23. Rahul Gandhi’s income in 10 years was Rs 11 crore. With an income of Rs 11 crore, Rahul Gandhi has spent Rs 60 crore. Sambit Patra said that the first question that arises is about foreign sources. When someone travels abroad, be it an MP, MLA, or a minister, there can be two types of funding.
Either the government sponsors the trip entirely, or it is funded by a foreign source such as a foreign company, agency, or organization. If a foreign agency is funding it, what does Indian law say about it? The law stipulates that prior permission from the Home Ministry is mandatory under the ‘Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act’, commonly known as FCRA 2010. This rule applies to legislators, judges and government officials. The BJP MP asked whether Rahul Gandhi had taken permission from the Home Ministry under FCRA. Referring to foreign trips, Sambit Patra said that Rahul Gandhi has tried to tarnish the image of India during his foreign trips. This is well known, not hidden from anyone.
