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NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who was scheduled to fly to the United States for 10 days on May 31 has preponed his tour and will now embark on his journey on May 28, sources said.
Rahul Gandhi will attend a program at Stanford University and meet the Indian diaspora on May 29-30.
He was earlier scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to the USA beginning on May 31.
Rahul Gandhi dominated the headlines as he returned from London after giving speeches at Cambridge University, critical of the government and throwing light on Indian democracy.
In March 2023, Rahul Gandhi delivered a speech at Cambridge University, at a convention organized by the Association of Journalists in London, and finally during an in-conversation session at the Chatham House think tank in London.
“Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space,” Rahul Gandhi said at Cambridge University in the UK.
“The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilization, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” he had added.
The remarks by the Congress MP gave fresh ammunition to the ruling BJP, who demanded an apology from Gandhi.
Several of his statements in the UK stoked controversy in India. BJP intensified its attack on Rahul Gandhi with party chief JP Nadda alleging he is a “permanent part of the anti-India toolkit”
The BJP leader demanded an apology from the former Wayanad MP.
The second leg of the Budget session of Parliament witnessed deadlock. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to apologize for remarks that he made in London about democracy in India; the Congress insisted on the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations of dubious financial transactions and dishonest business practices against the Adani Group of companies.
On April 11, Gandhi was disqualified from his position as a Member of Parliament after his conviction in a defamation case. He was disqualified in accordance with Article 102(1)(e) of the Indian Constitution read with Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
