India's Sonia Gandhi Flying to U.S. for Medical Check-Up

The head of India's ruling party, Sonia Gandhi, is to fly to the United States for a medical check-up, according to a report, a week after she was hospitalized in New Delhi.

Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, traveled to the United States in 2011 for surgery on an undisclosed condition and remained out of the public eye for three months afterwards.

"Her going to the U.S. for medical check-up is due," a senior party leader told the Press Trust of India news agency late on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

Gandhi, 66, last had a check-up in the U.S. in February and also traveled there in September last year, PTI reported.

She was admitted to hospital last week after falling ill during a debate in parliament on key legislation.

Party colleagues said she had been suffering from a fever and was exhausted after days of negotiating the successful passage of a landmark food welfare law.

Her health and private life are closely guarded by her advisers and she rarely speaks to the press.

In 2011, a news magazine report said she had undergone surgery for cancer, but the illness has never been disclosed officially.