Rahul Gandhi's visit to the UK has stirred up controversy among the Congress party members. It has been alleged that during his visit, Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) seemed to have attempted to replicate the US norm of fundraisers for supporting campaigns, by collecting £900 per head for the leftover seats at an event that was organised by IOC for Gandhi to interact with Indian journalists from a 'particular association'. Many party members are reportedly miffed with IOC for the nature of the event, the DNA reported.
The report further said, that, leaders were uncomfortable that an event attended by Gandhi needed to be financed in such a way, where the 'organisers started selling a spot at the table to arrange for funds for the event.'
However, sources reveal the afternoon lunch was actually organised by the Indian Journalists' Association (IJA) alone and not IOC. It had about a dozen guests from the Congress delegation and about 100 people attending it, including MPs, Peers, organisation leaders, journalists from BBC, Sky TV, major Indian medias, ethnic newspapers including Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, as well as entrepreneurs such as Kartar Lalvani.
According to the sources, the event which was funded 'only' by the Indian Journalists' Association, had raised money through corporate sponsorships and individual ticket sales of £30 for each member journalist, £50 for each non-member journalists and £100 per person, for any other non-journalist guests.
Speaking to Asian Voice, when asked about the above allegation, Ashis Ray, the current President of the Indian Journalists' Association, who 'single-handedly' organised this lunch event at the Taj hotel on 25 August, said, “(This is) Absolutely rubbish. I have brought the ridiculous story to the attention of Subhash Chandra, who is the owner of DNA, requesting him to withdraw the story.”
Kamal Dhaliwal, the IOC President, was not available for a comment.
