Two Gujarat ministers visited US without nod

Opposition Congress today alleged that two ministers in the Narendra Modi Government had gone on a foreign tour without the Centre's permission.

"The two ministers, Anandiben Patel and Anil Patel, had gone to the USA between November 27 2004 and December 5 2004 without the permission of the Central Government," Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia said here.

"I received information regarding this from the state government by using the Right to Information Act," he said, adding it is mandatory for state ministers to take the Centre's permission before going on a foreign tour.

"When we drew the attention of the Central Government on this, a secretary in the External Affairs Ministry wrote to Gujarat Chief Secretary saying the visit of the ministers was `irregular' in nature," Modhvadia pointed out.

"The secretary had also advised that such incidents be avoided in future," the Leader of Opposition in Assembly added.