Rahul Gandhi on two-day US visit from April 21

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) Amid mounting troubles for the Gandhi-Vadra families over money laundering investigations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be travelling to the US next week.

He is scheduled to give a talk and interact with the faculty members and students at Brown University in Rhode Island on April 21 and 22.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared the details in his post on X.

He wrote, “Former Congress President Mr. Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Brown University, in Rhode Island, United States, on the 21st and 22nd of April. He will be giving a talk and interacting with faculty members and students”

Rahul Gandhi will also meet the NRIs and members of his party’s overseas unit.

“Prior to visiting Rhode Island, Mr. Gandhi will meet with members of the NRI community, as well as office bearers and members of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC),” Khera further wrote in his post.

The US visit comes days before a special Delhi court hears the National Herald case.

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a prosecution complaint against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, and others in an alleged money laundering case related to the Associated Journals Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. On Tuesday (April 9), the special Delhi court posted the matter for its consideration on April 25.

The charge sheet names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused numbers 1 and 2. They together hold more than 75 per cent of the Congress-controlled Associated Journals Limited (AJL)'s shares.

The ED has also been questioning his brother-in-law and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband, Robert Vadra, in a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Haryana’s Gurugram.

The Congress workers and leaders have been holding nationwide protests against the ED and accusing the Centre of political vendetta.

Rahul Gandhi’s US visits have always been followed by major controversies.

Last year in September, Gandhi, during his first visit to the US after becoming the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, raked up a major row. The BJP accused him of insulting the country. Addressing the Indian diaspora at an event in Herndon, Virginia, he said there was no religious freedom in India and pinpointed a Sikh and said that “the fight in India was about whether a Sikh would be allowed to practice their religion in the country.”

He also hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while addressing a gathering in Texas.

Last month, while the Budget session of Parliament was ongoing, Gandhi claimed he wasn’t allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. He reiterated past allegations that his microphone was switched off whenever he tried to address key issues in Parliament.

--IANS

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