Rahul Gandhi's hosts in UK fear radicals may disrupt events

LONDON: Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s forthcoming visit here, organisers of his engagements — a talk at the London School of Economics (LSE) on Friday and a public function at a hotel in South Ruislip on Saturday — are alleging that a plan by rightwing PIO groups could be afoot to disrupt the two events.

Sanam Arora, founder and chairperson of the National Indian Students & Alumni Union UK, which is co-organising the LSE event, said, “We have been notified that some people are apparently planning such activities and we are appalled if this is true. The event is oversubscribed and the young NRI community is really looking forward to listening to the Congress chief. As with all our events, appropriate security arrangements are in place.” But she said no one was barred from attending as the point of the event was to engage in healthy discussion about India.

According to sources close to organisers, members of various WhatsApp groups have discussed throwing eggs, popcorn and tomatoes at Gandhi and heckling him when he attends the two events. People TOI spoke to claimed to have seen screenshots from these groups. Kamalpreet Dhaliwal, president of Indian Overseas Congress UK, said, “I am not in any of these groups but I have heard it from people.”