The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (14th May) launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, raising questions on his frequent foreign travels.
The party disclosed the details of Rahul Gandhi’s 54 foreign trips over the past 22 years and questioned the source of funding for the trips. Raising concerns about national security, the party
Rijiju said that things like foreign hospitality and the expenditure to be borne by the agencies/organisations for inviting Rahul Gandhi come under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, and the information needs to be shared with the Ministry of Home Affairs. “The matter of Rahul Gandhi’s unannounced and announced foreign visits has raised a serious question. Every MP is required to inform the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariat 3 weeks in advance of their foreign visit. It is not a permission but information. MPs can travel abroad, but information has to be given,” the Union Minister said.
“I request Rahul Gandhi to specify why he has visited so much. It is his freedom to visit, but he must inform who the people are who have invited him and what expenditures incurred in his name are being spent by the agencies/organisations outside India. I feel that every Indian has to abide by the laws of the country, especially the MPs… If anything happens, if some actions are initiated, Govt should not be blamed for targeting Rahul Gandhi or a particular person. Law is for everyone,” Rijiju said.
Gandhi allegedly earned ₹11 crore and spent ₹60 crore
Addressing a media conference at the party’s headquarters, BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Gandhi spent ₹60 crore on his 54 foreign trips while his declared income for the past 10 years was ₹11 crore only. “We have the details of Rahul Gandhi’s income from 2013-14 to 2022-23. In these ten years, his income was around Rs 11 crore. How did he manage to spend Rs 60 crore on foreign trips? Who is funding him? Has any foreign company financed these trips? Who is funding him? If any foreign company has financed these trips, did he follow the required regulations?” Patra questioned.
“According to the available details, in the past 10 years, Rahul Gandhi’s total income was ₹11 crore. On one hand, there is an income of ₹11 crore, while on the other hand, ₹60 crore was spent on foreign trips,” he said.
Mismatch between Gandhi’s declared income and expenditure
Patra revealed that Gandhi undertook 54 foreign trips to countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Bahrain, the Maldives, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during 22 years of his public life. Patra highlighted the 5 instances when Gandhi’s expenditure on his foreign travels far exceeded his income for the relevant period. He said that during the financial year 2014-15, Rahul Gandhi’s total income was around ₹86 lakh, but he spent nearly ₹4.5 crore on a single foreign trip. In 2017-18, Gandhi’s total income was around ₹1.2 crore, while he spent around ₹6 crore on foreign travel. Further, in 2019-20, Gandhi’s income was around ₹1.29 crore, but he spent ₹4.6 crore on foreign travel. Similarly, in 2021-22, he earned ₹1.03 crore and spent around ₹2.6 crore on foreign travel.
FCRA violations
Patra said that the CRPF wrote to the Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge, in September 2025, flagging what it described as six “undeclared foreign trips” undertaken in violation of the yellow book of the SPG protection protocol. “So far, six of Rahul Gandhi’s trips have been described as undeclared, and if the Oman trip is confirmed, it will be the seventh undeclared trip… No public programme related to this trip was announced, no host was disclosed, and it was not revealed who had invited him…No permission letter under FCRA Section 6 has been shown either,” Patra said.