The Congress president’s two-day trip to Japan is part of his bid to establish outreach with Indians in the east Asian country. His visit will involve meetings with senior government officials.
New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s outreach to Indians abroad is likely to take him to Japan next month.
The tour is being organised by the Indian Overseas Congress, headed by senior party strategist Sam Pitroda, and is the fifth such trip since the programme was launched in September 2017. The first took Rahul to the US, where he also made an address at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley, with trips to Bahrain (January), and Singapore and Malaysia (March) following this year.
For the upcoming trip, the overseas wing of the Congress was initially split between the UAE and Japan, before settling on the latter. The exact date of the trip will be worked out in the next few days.
“The Congress president has lots of travel plans (in June) across the country, and the final date will be decided after consulting him,” a party leader said.
Rahul had Sunday taken off for the UK with mother Sonia Gandhi for her annual check-up and is likely to return in three days.
Tokyo talks
Like the earlier trips planned under the programme, the one to Japan is likely to be a two-day visit involving, among other things, meetings between Rahul and senior government officials.
Rahul is also expected to visit a Japanese technology company, with a session lined up at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS). “It will be the way we have been organising the earlier tours. Discussions are underway but the final programme can only be drafted once he clears it,” a party leader said.
Busy birthday month
June promises to be a whirlwind, travel-packed month for the Congress president, who also celebrates his birthday 19 June, with visits also planned to the poll-bound states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, both currently led by the BJP.
On 6 June, Rahul will travel to Mandsaur, MP, to address a farmers’ rally on the first anniversary of last year’s bloody agitation that reportedly saw six farmers killed in police firing. Rahul had tried to visit the site three days later, but was detained by police before he reached the city.
In Rajasthan, state party leaders told ThePrint, the Congress leader was likely to visit capital Jaipur, among other places, as he kicks off his campaign for a state known to vote out incumbents in assembly elections. The programme will be finalised once the Japan itinerary takes shape.
Earlier, on 29 April, while addressing the Congress’ Jan Aakrosh Rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Rahul had sought permission from party workers for 15 days’ leave to perform the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after the Karnataka assembly polls. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra begins this year on 8 June and will continue till 8 September. However, no confirmation has yet come from Rahul’s office about his yatra schedule.
पढ़ें हिंदी में: 9 पॉइंट फॉर्मूला जो विपक्ष की भाजपा से 2019 की लड़ाई में कर सकता है मदद