Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit the United States of America (US) in September where he is expected to meet the Indian diaspora, students and lawmakers, reports said. This will be Rahul Gandhi's first foreign trip since becoming Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha.
During the US stay, likely to last 8-9 days, Gandhi will visit Washington DC, Texas, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to a report in the Print citing sources in the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC). The visit comes at a time when the US presidential election campaign is at its peak.
“He (Rahul) will address the diaspora during his stay. Like his previous visits to the US and UK, he will also interact with students at prestigious universities. In Washington, he will also meet lawmakers from the US Congress and Senate,” the Print report quoted a Congress leader familiar with the plans as saying.
Gandhi was in the US in June 2023, where he had interactions at the University of Santa Clara and Stanford University. He also had interactions with entrepreneurs and techies in Silicon Valley, before heading to Washington DC to address a press conference at the National Press Club.
Before that, Gandhi was in the United Kingdom in February-March 2023, where he delivered speeches at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, the Indian Journalists' Association and the Chatham House think tank.
The upcoming visit has been planned at the request of members of the diaspora who campaigned for Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and also participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the report said.
The party's rise in Lok Sabha membership to 99, the highest in a decade, and the subsequent appointment of Gandhi as LoP have piqued their interest.