BJP says Rahul Gandhi listed himself ‘British’
Congress says it is old tactic, affirms party vice president is Indian
New Delhi: Alleging that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had declared himself as a British national before the UK authorities, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday demanded that Mr Gandhi be stripped of his Indian citizenship.
Hitting back at the BJP leader, the Congress said Dr Swamy is resorting to “petty and mindless mud-slinging” and the ruling party was “frustrated by its humiliating defeat in the Bihar elections and internal revolt brewing amongst the senior-most leadership.”
Circulating copies of documents extracted purportedly from the company law authorities of Britain, Dr Swamy said that Mr Gandhi had declared himself as a British national in the documents related to a now-dissolved company. He said it was a violation of constitutional provisions and demanded that action be taken against the Congress vice-president.
Dr Swamy said he would also write to the Lok Sabha Speaker asking for either constitution of a special committee or refer the matter to the Ethics Committee for stripping Mr Gandhi of his membership of the House. Dismissing the BJP leader’s charges, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said, “We don’t know what he (Swamy) has said. But he has the habit of getting back into news whenever he is sidelined.”
Congress communication department head Randeep Singh Surjewala said: “From the day he was born, Rahul Gandhi has held Indian citizenship and passport and never held citizenship of any other country nor has he represented as such. The allegation by Dr Swamy is false.”
He also released a copy of the Certificate of Incorpor-ation of the company that Mr Gandhi was trying to set up in the UK in 2003 which clearly mentioned that the Congress vice-president as an “Indian national”.
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