Citizenship row: Subramanian Swamy writes to Lok Sabha Speaker on Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urging her to refer the matter of Rahul Gandhi's alleged violation of Constitution and ethical code on citizenship to the Ethics Committee and disqualify him as MP if he is guilty.

In his letter to Mahajan, the BJP leader said Gandhi, as a Lok Sabha member, has violated the ethics code to be observed by MPs and urged her to seek explanation from him.

After that if she felt that a prima case existed, she may refer the matter to the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha to decide whether he can continue as MP, Swamy said adding that he should be disqualified because he was "guilty of gross violation" of ethics.

Swamy, who yesterday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had released documents purportedly showing that Gandhi had claimed himself to be a British national before the company law authorities there for setting up a company. He had demanded that Gandhi be stripped of Indian citizenship and Lok Sabha membership.

Congress has dismissed as "entirely false" BJP leader Swamy's allegation that Gandhi has claimed himself to be a British national before the authorities there.

"From the day he was born, Rahul Gandhi has held Indian citizenship and Indian passport and has never held citizenship of any other country nor has he represented as such. The allegation by Dr. Swamy is entirely false", party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala had said in a statement on Monday.

Claiming that his documents of Gandhi's purported declaration before British authorities were authentic, Swamy said Rahul had failed to disclose in his affidavit as a candidate for Lok Sabha elections in 2009 that he was not a citizen of India or that he had set up a company called 'Backups' in Britain.

Latching on to Swamy's allegation, the BJP demanded that Gandhi should come clean as the explanation given by Congress was not convincing.

"Any elected Indian leader should give a clarification. We seek an explanation from Mr Rahul Gandhi as these are legal documents and have legal repercussions as well. The statement needs to be made by none other than Rahul Gandhi. He needs to come clean on this," BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters.