New Delhi, October 5
The Prime Minister’s Office today rejected the BJP’s allegations that the government utilised funds from the public exchequer to foot the travel and health bills of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“The Prime Minister`s Office would like to put on record that the government has incurred no expenses on UPA chairperson`s visits abroad. The figures quoting that Rs 1,880 crore public funds were spent on these trips were untrue and misleading. Expenses for her security contingent are borne by the Special Protection Group,” said a statement issued by it. The PMO also clarified that the government has not paid for Sonia’s medical treatment abroad and in India.

In the last eight years, only one trip to Belgium — undertaken by Sonia at the invitation of the Belgian Government to receive a national honour — was paid for by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations which cost under Rs 3 lakh, said the PMO.

The issue was raked up by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who quoted a news report based on an RTI reply stating that Rs 1,880 crore were spent from the public exchequer to take care of Sonia’s travel and health-related expenditure.

However, the case took a curious turn after the Hisar-based RTI activist, whose report was cited by Modi, insisted he never received a response to his query. Modi said he would issue a public apology if proved incorrect.

A day later, Modi said instead of seeking to silence him, the government should answer how much money it spent on Sonia Gandhi’s overseas travel since the UPA came to power in 2004.

Earlier, the Chief Information Commissioner said no expenditure was incurred by the government on Sonia’s treatment abroad. In response to another RTI query, it said no reimbursement for any such expenditure was claimed by the individual and the government did not incur any expenditure in this regard.