Priyanka Gandhi to visit US on 'mission mode' to meet 'India haters', 'defame' country: BJP

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) The BJP on Monday alleged that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to embark on a visit to the US on a "mission mode" to meet "India haters" and "defame" the country following the footsteps of her brother and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

There was no immediate reaction from Priyanka Gandhi or the Congress to the BJP's charges.

In a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said, "Heard that Priyanka Gandhi is travelling to the USA on a mission mode to defame India like her brother Rahul Gandhi. She is being welcomed there by India haters like George Soros." They must know that such a "stunt" will backfire on them "terribly", the former BJP Rajya Sabha MP added.

Islam, however, did not share any further details about Priyanka Gandhi's US visit.

Another BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi demanded "transparency", alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has undertaken 247 foreign trips since 2015 and many of these travels have been declared "private with no disclosure of meetings, agendas or funding".

"Repeated appearances at Soros-linked ecosystems, FES forums, OSF-funded institutions, while attacking India's democracy abroad. Now Rahul in Germany, Priyanka in the US – same pattern, same script," she charged in a post on X.

Ilmi alleged that after such foreign visits by Rahul Gandhi, India "witnesses protests like street mobilisations, global reports and narratives questioning its institutions, and attacks on CAA, farm laws, Adani".

"Whenever India debates reforms or faces protests, the Gandhi siblings surface abroad at Soros-linked platforms, questioning India's democracy. Coincidence or coordination?" she asked, adding, "Who funds these trips? Who briefs them?" "Time for transparency… India is not a laboratory for foreign agendas," she added.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that the country has seen in the past how US-based billionaire investor George Soros and his close aide, "who do not believe in Indian democracy", have been seen in meetings along with Rahul Gandhi.

"After Rahul Gandhi spending a week in Germany, now Priyanka Vadra to head to the United States of America. Who are Gandhi-Vadra family siblings meeting on these trips abroad, and what is the purpose of these 'non-official' trips?" Bhandari asked on X.

"The nation demands transparency and answers," he added.

Another BJP spokesperson C R Kesavan alleged that the main agenda of Rahul Gandhi's "current Bharat badnaam yatra" is to insult India and undermine its democracy.

"Why else would Rahul Gandhi be seen gallivanting with the likes of Cornelia Woll, who has close associations to institutions and entities funded by George Soros?" Kesavan asked in an apparent reference to the Congress leader's recent visit to Germany.

The BJP spokesperson alleged that Soros' "nefarious agenda" is to destabilise India and the Congress has always "ducked and dodged" explaining its association with entities "like FDL-AP Foundation and Hindenburg which have close links to the organisations connected to George Soros." Kesavan said Rahul Gandhi had earlier met with US lawmaker Ilhan Omar, who, he alleged, is a "prominent anti-India voice and virulent advocate for Independent Kashmir".

He asked why it is that every "India-hater" finds a "friend and ally" in Rahul Gandhi.

"Ostensible news reports now say that Member of Parliament (MP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has headed abroad too," Kesavan said in a post on X.

India and its people have a right to know the "real intent and reason" behind the foreign trips of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, he added.

In a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok also took on the Congress leaders, saying, "I've heard that the time for the Gandhis' meeting with Soros in Germany has been fixed." "This brother-sister duo Rahul and Priyanka are secretly going to America, will set a new agenda against India now in America," Alok charged. PTI PK PK KSS KSS