Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had 'no political clearance' for UK visit

New Delhi, May 25: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to the United Kingdom, and especially his meeting with British Labour Party leader and MP Jeremy Corbyn in London, came under the scanner after his controversial statements.

Top sources in the government have revealed that the Congress MP skipped the due procedure, and had not sought political clearance for his visit to the UK.

Top sources said another Member of Parliament, Professor Manoj Jha from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who also went for a function in which Rahul Gandhi was participating in London, had all due permission, including political clearance. Jha also spoke at Cambridge University, a day ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Also Read | Punjab makes Punjabi language mandatory in aptitude test for govt jobs On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi posed a picture with UK Labour party leader and known India-baiter Jeremy Corbyn, which sparked off a war of words between the Congress and the BJP. While the Congress Wayanad MP spoke at the 'Ideas for India' conclave, Rahul Gandhi said that "democracy is in danger and the Constitution of India is under attack". He also also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of remaining silent 'deliberately' on every issue. Heated words were also exchanged between Rahul Gandhi and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Twitter. Hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks concerning "complete change" in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Jaishankar said the change was not called "arrogance", but "confidence and defending national interest". The remarks came after Rahul Gandhi said at an event in London that he had been told by bureaucrats in Europe that IFS had changed and the officers were "arrogant". Jaishankar said in a tweet that the IFS officers follow the orders of the government and protect national interests while countering the arguments of others. "Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it's not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence. And it is called defending National Interest," Jaishankar said. Also Read | HC stays ex-Punjab DGP Sumedh Saini's arrest till September He also attached a clip of Rahul Gandhi's remarks. In his remarks at the 'Ideas for India' conference in London, Gandhi said he had been told that IFS officers "do not listen to anything, they were just getting orders from the government and there is no conversation". -PTC News