Amid allegations by BJP members that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen, the ministry of home affairs issued a notice to the leader on the issue on Monday.
The letter was issued by B.C. Joshi, director (citizenship) at the ministry of home affairs. The MHA letter states that the notice is being issued based on a complaint from BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. Swamy had repeatedly raised allegations that Gandhi is a British citizen, referring to the registration papers of a British company in which Gandhi was a director.
The MHA letter refers to the same company, Backops Limited, and notes that Gandhi had “declared his nationality as British” in the company's annual returns filed between 2005 and 2006. Interestingly, Swamy had repeatedly tweeted that the MHA had not acted on his complaint, which was made in September 2017. Gandhi has been asked to respond to the MHA notice within a fortnight.
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Two weeks ago, an independent candidate in Amethi had raised objections to Gandhi's nomination papers based on the citizenship issue. The Election Commission, which delayed verification of Gandhi's nomination based on the complaint, later ruled his papers were valid.
