Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday as part of a three-city US visit where he would meet legislators and engage with the Indian diaspora.
At the University of California, Santa Cruz, Rahul Gandhi talks with activists, professors, and members of civil society on his first day.
In addition, he is now speaking to the Indians in San Francisco.
Sam Pitroda, head of the Indian Overseas Congress, and other members of the organisation met him at the airport. Gandhi reportedly had to wait two hours at the airport for his immigration to be processed.
Several passengers who were flying on the same aircraft as Gandhi took selfies with him as he waited in line.
Gandhi said, “I am a common man,” when people questioned him about why he was waiting in line. I like it. As an MP, I no longer exist.
Plan for Rahul Gandhi’s trip to the US
Gandhi will meet with politicians and think tanks in Washington DC after speaking at a news conference in San Francisco and engaging with students at the esteemed Stanford University.
During his weeklong visit of the United States, the 52-year-old Congress leader is also anticipated to speak with Wall Street CEOs, Indian Americans, and college students. On June 4, he is scheduled to end his journey with a public event in New York. The discussion would take place in New York’s Javits Centre.
Sam Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, said last week that Gandhi’s visit is intended to further common principles and a vision of “real democracy.”
Pitroda said in a statement that Gandhi’s trip had as its goal “to connect, interact, and start a new conversation with various people, institutions, and media, including the growing Indian diaspora in the United States and abroad to promote the shared values and vision of the real democracy with a focus on freedom, inclusion, sustainability, justice, peace, and opportunities worldwide.”
Two days after a Delhi court granted its approval, Gandhi was issued a new regular passport on Sunday.
The former president of the Congress is scheduled to fly to San Francisco in the United States on Monday night as part of a three-city trip after relinquishing his old diplomatic passport that was provided to him when he was a member of parliament.
Following his conviction and two-year imprisonment by a Gujarat court in a defamation case over his Modi surname comment, Gandhi was disqualified as an MP in March.
