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 Mo
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 is “frustrated by its humiliating defeat in the Bihar elections and internal revolt is 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 against the party vice-president, Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said, “We don’t know what he (Dr 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 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.”
He also released a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation of the company Mr Gandhi was trying to set up in the UK in 2003 which clearly mentioned that the Congress vice-president is an “Indian national”.
The Congress leader alleged that the sole purpose of the BJP leader’s allegations appears to “divert attention from ruling party’s inner revolt” and “paralysis of policy and governance being questioned all around, including the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
He said in this quest, Dr Swamy and the BJP are “repeating rehashed allegations levelled earlier on multiple occasions, including through press conferences, held in Ahmedabad and Delhi in October 2012.”
