Huge response to Rahul Gandhi's UK visit, say organisers

Rahul Gandhi's first official visit to the UK as Congress president has attracted a huge response from every section of the Indian diaspora community as well as students, the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC)-UK claimed here today.

The Congress leader, who will arrive here tomorrow from Berlin on a two-day visit, is set for a series of meetings, including an interaction with parliamentarians in the House of Commons complex and a diaspora event.

Gandhi will be accompanied by a 10-member delegation, including senior Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Milind Deora.

"There has been a huge response to the visit. In fact, we did not get a chance to advertise the visit and had to book an extra hall for the mega diaspora conference," said Kamalpreet Singh Dhaliwal, IOC president UK and Europe.

The key purpose of Gandhi's UK visit has been described as an opportunity to interact with different sections of society, including local legislators, doctors, students as well as business people and to build momentum behind IOC UK's 2019 General Election related activities.

"Rahul Gandhi likes to listen to people. It is all part of a wider learning process.Modi ji mann ki baat bolte hain, Rahul ji mann ki baat sunte hain(Narendra Modi likes to speak, Rahul Gandhi believes in listening), said IOC UK spokesperson Sudhakar.

Everywhere Rahul Gandhi goes, people arrive in large groups to see him. Many people with ties with the Congress party going back generations have been calling from far and wide. We have coach loads of people arriving from different parts of the UK, claimed Gurminder Randhawa, a member of the IOC-UK Women's Wing.

In reference to some reports of local BJP sympathisers planning disruptive activities during Gandhi's public events, the organisers said they were not worried as they have "strict security measures" in place and everyone would be screened before access to any of the venues.

On arriving here, Gandhi will began his public engagement at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) where he will address a gathering on India's Economic Growth and Foreign Policy in an Uncertain World'.

He will then address UK parliamentarians at a cross-party event at the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons.

Gandhi will also participate in an In Conversation event at the London School of Economics (LSE) with LSE South Asia Centre Director Mukulika Banerjee, organised by the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK to launch its Perspective India Townhall before an audience largely made up of students and academics.

The aim of the event is to promote dynamic and unbiased discussions on issues facing contemporary India as well as the opportunities India presents, said Sanam Arora, Chair of NISAU UK.

Later in the evening tomorrow, the Mayor of Richmond, Councillor Ben Khosa, will host a dinner for the Congress chief at the Old Town Hall in south-west London.

The dinner will be attended by the leader of the Liberal Democrat party, Sir Vince Cable, as well as other local politicians and entrepreneurs.

On Saturday, Gandhi will begin the day with a breakfast meeting of all IOC representatives from the UK and other parts of the world to kick-start general election preparations for the IOC.

He will also attend a working lunch organised by the Indian Journalists' Association (IJA) before addressing a healthcare symposium organised by the UK's Royal Society of Medicine.

The Congress president's UK visit will conclude with his interaction with the Indian diaspora at a Mega Conference in Ruislip in west London on Saturday evening.

In Germany, while addressing a gathering at the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg of which he is an alumnus, Gandhi highlighted job creation as the biggest problem faced by India.

"My main problem with the Indian Prime Minister is that India has a job problem but our PM refuses to acknowledge it, he said, adding, "If we don't accept it, we won't be able to fix it.