Dhaka  - Rahul Gandhi, Indian parliament member and son of ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, arrived in Dhaka Friday to a rousing welcome to begin a five-day private visit to Bangladesh, officials said.

Gandhi was greeted at the airport by Nobel Peace prize winner Prof Mohammad Yunus and high government officials amidst tightened security, airport sources said.

The 38-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will visit rural Bangladesh to see personally the anti-poverty development projects of the Grameen Bank and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Center (BRAC) run by micro credit financing.

Nobel laureate Yunus, who heads the Grameen Bank, invited Gandhi to visit Bangladesh after he had shown great interest in the Grameen Bank models for poverty alleviation, and the education and health centers run by BRAC.

Aides accompanying Gandhi said the Bangladesh visit by the Lokh Sabha deputy was strictly private and there was no official programme. (dpa)