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Congress President Rahul Gandhi will arrive in the UK on his first official visit to the country, which the local party here hopes will help boost its support base in the country.
The visit is to include a town-hall style event with students, a meeting with MPs and a diaspora gathering. It follows a series of international trips by the Congress leader, including to Malaysia and Singapore.
Gandhi will arrive from Germany, where he visited Hamburg and Berlin, and is accompanied by a delegation of around 10, including Shashi Tharoor and former Congress ministers.
Among the centrepieces of the visit will be a diaspora event on Saturday evening in West London, where around 1,300 people were expected to attend, organisers said.
“He is here because he wants to listen to everyone,” said an Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) UK spokesperson, who added that they hoped the visit, and opportunities to engage, will help give the local body momentum ahead of the general election next year, and help the party reach out to new audiences and exchange ideas.
Security is expected to be tight during the main events, amid fears that certain groups were planning to disrupt sections of the trip. Organisers said they had made the necessary preparations and had security, and volunteers to ensure the smooth passage of the events.
Gandhi is also due to speak at the thinktank International Institute for Strategic Studies, and attend an event for health care professionals as well as a meeting of the Indian Journalists’ Association, as well as an event in Parliament. The IOC, which is organising the event in Parliament, said a number of MPs were due to attend the event.
Gandhi will also attend a dinner organised by the mayor of the west London borough of Richmond, which will be attended by Vincent Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats. No plans to meet senior figures of either the Labour Party or the ruling Conservative Party have been announced.
He will also speak at a town-hall style event organised by the London School of Economics-South Asia Centre and the National Indian Students and Alumni Union, UK, where student societies across the UK will be able to ask him questions.
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