Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday left for a short personal visit abroad. Sources said the former Congress president left this morning and is likely to return by Sunday, ahead of the Presidential election and the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 18.
The party did not disclose any details of his visit and termed it personal. Rahul will, however, not be making it to the crucial party meeting for preparations of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and internal elections of the Congress on Thursday, where all general secretaries, in-charges and PCC presidents have been invited.
Rahul has been often criticised by the BJP for his frequent visits abroad. In early May, Rahul was spotted in a nightclub in Kathmandu at a time when the party was in the midst of a crisis. After the BJP raked it up, the Congress said he had gone to attend the wedding of a friend.
His visit to the UK at the end of May also triggered a row when it was claimed that the trip did not have requisite political clearance from the Government. The Congress responded by saying that such a clearance was required only when an MP visited a foreign country as part of an official delegation.
Moreover, Rahul's remarks in the United Kingdom at an event had also led to a controversy as he claimed that Indian diplomats, of late, had become arrogant.