My knowledge of political history is admittedly sketchy. Even with that qualifier, I do not recall any other political opposition leader from India making such frequent forays overseas to discuss the internal politics of India.

It can be argued that throughout the 10 years of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Narendra Modi could not travel to many countries abroad due to his visa restrictions. Thus, his campaigning remained restricted — some would say, sensibly so — to India. But even then, no other leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) went on international junkets to either woo Non-Resident Indians or seek support from global influencers. The same could be said also of the Congress during the five-year rule of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Going further back to circa 1975, preceding the Emergency of Indira Gandhi, one did not hear of politicians (with the sole exception of Subramanian Swamy, perhaps) going out to the world to garner support for protecting Indian democracy.

Some opposition Chief Ministers take delegations to other countries ostensibly to seek investments. But the objectives of such trips are largely apolitical. A few intellectually inclined politicians like Arvind Kejriwal are invited for lectures and study tours by developed nations – but they are a rare breed. One does not hear of many instances among political leaders of other countries doing overt international outreach for regime change at home. Political leaders living in asylum abroad seldom indulge in open political activism, possibly as part of conditions imposed by the host country. Therefore, the trend started by Rahul Gandhi is truly........

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