In the wake of a Home Ministry notice to Congress President Rahul Gandhi on his citizenship status, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday asked him to clarify whether he is an Indian Citizen or a British.
Addressing a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said due to confusion over several issues concerning Gandhi, he seems to be "a mystery man". There is confusion with regard to his appointment as board of director in various companies, who he meets during his foreign tours, his educational background, etc, he added.
"This is about three Cs - Citizenship, Confusion and Clarification. The question of citizenship raised by the Home Ministry are based on authenticated documents," he said.
"We would like to ask him if he is Rahul Gandhi 'London wale', or Rahul Gandhi 'Lutyen wale'. Since he has created the confusion, only he can clear it," he said.
He said there is no political vendetta in raising the issue as it is a right of the nation to know "the truth" of Gandhi's citizenship.
The Ministry has issued a notice to Gandhi to clarify his nationality within a fortnight after BJP MP Subramanian Swamy alleged that he is a British national.
#RahulCitizenship | The issue isn't the timing, it's the truth. Whenever the truth is established, that is the right time for it: Dr Sambit Patra, BJP pic.twitter.com/gGbuifxq0s
— Republic (@republic) April 30, 2019
Rahul Gandhi British Citizenship issue with @Swamy39 a https://t.co/zwCyb3Ovyp
— Ishkaran Singh Bhandari (@Ish_Bhandari) April 30, 2019
Mr @RahulGandhi minions are busy diverting attention from real issue of RG British Citizenship ! The issue raised by Dr @Swamy39 is DOCUMENTS filed by RG himself with Registrar Of Companies in London wherein RG himself claims he is British Citizen !What has RG to say on that ?! pic.twitter.com/bt4n7OvDB4
— Jagdish Shetty (@jagdishshetty) April 30, 2019
"You are requested to intimate the factual position in the matter to this Ministry within a fortnight of the receipt of this communication," it said in the letter dated April 29.
Patra cited the British company's document to allege that Gandhi is a British national.
He said the company named Backops Ltd was registered in the United Kingdom in 2003 showing Rahul as one of its directors.
"We want to know if you are Indian or British. It is unfortunate that Rahul Gandhi chose to be British citizen by choice and Indian Citizen by compulsion," he said.
"It is a serious matter as he is President of a major political party. India doesn't have the provision of dual citizenship."
The Congress on Tuesday rejected the BJP's allegations that Congress President Rahul Gandhi was a British national and asserted that he was an Indian citizen.
Besides, the Congress announced to give a "befitting reply" to the Home Ministry for issuing a notice to Gandhi on "fake allegations to divert agendas like unemployment".
"Rahul Gandhi is an Indian citizen... We will give a befitting reply to the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) which issued notice to Rahul Gandhi on fake allegations aimed at diverting the agenda of unemployment and many more," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
He cited a certificate of incorporation of the UK firm Backops, in which Rahul Gandhi worked as a director, to support his claim.
Citing the document, Surjewala said it's "page four clearly records that Rahul Gandhi is an Indian by birth".
The Congress reaction came in the backdrop of a notice issued by the Union Home Ministry to Gandhi asking him to clarify on his nationality within a fortnight after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy alleged that Gandhi is a British national.
#RahulCitizenship | If he says 'yes I was a British citizen' then his Indian citizenship is gone. If he says 'No I was not', then it'll be a criminal investigation as to what he filed in the U.K: Dr Subramanian Swamy on whose complaint the MHA has issued notice to Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/d77kK2KiDB
— Republic (@republic) April 30, 2019
#RahulCitizenship Videshi by choice, Indian by compulsion 👏
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) April 30, 2019
Surjewala took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "manufacturing" one false allegation everyday after having failed on every front and called it a "rehashed" allegation of 2014-15.
The Congress leader said the controversy around Rahul Gandhi's citizenship was a "baseless charge" and part of the Prime Minister's malicious agenda to defame the Congress chief.
He said the BJP raised the issue in 2014 too. The matter then reached the Supreme Court, which rejected the allegations on November 30, 2015.
"Is the MHA now bigger than the Supreme Court? Will the BJP not accept the decision of the Highest Court?... Because the failed Prime Minister has no answer to the country's lack of jobs and widespread farm crisis, he is forced to manufacture an allegation a day.
"After the four phases of elections, it is clear that Modiji and the BJP are hurling towards defeat... Consequently, they seek to manufacture malicious agenda everyday. These are the rehashed allegations of 2014-15. Word to word same allegations were levelled by the same people in 2015. And I had then replied," Surjewala said.
"The truth is that such petty, fallacious and malicious allegations will not divert the agenda."
The Home Ministry in a letter dated April 29 said that Gandhi has declared his nationality as British in an annual return filed by a British company Backops Ltd.
The Ministry sought the Congress President's response over the issue within 14 days. "You are requested to intimate the factual position in the matter to this Ministry within a fortnight of the receipt of this communication," the letter read.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, “The whole of India knows that Rahul Gandhi is an Indian. He was born and brought up in front of them. What rubbish is this!”
Rahul citizenship: Old complaint, was dismissed by SC
The question of Congress President Rahul Gandhi's citizenship had cropped up earlier and he had defended himself forcefully when the matter had come before the Ethics Committee of Parliament.
This was in 2016, when the matter had come before the parliamentary panel, which is headed by BJP leader L.K. Advani.
Rahul Gandhi, who was not Congress president then, had, reportedly told the panel that he was surprised that it had taken cognizance of the complaint pertaining to his alleged British citizenship even though it was not in order. He had also said that any such application would be available with the British Home Office. According to the reports he had asserted that he had never sought or acquired British citizenship and that the complaint was part of a design to malign him.
While doubts over Gandhi's alleged dual citizenship had been raised by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, the Congress leader had at the time challenged the complainant to produce his British passport number and relevant documents to back his allegations. For the record, the matter had also been raised by the BJP's Maheish Girri.
The BJP leaders had claimed that the annual tax returns of the UK-based BackOps, with which Rahul Gandhi had been associated, had declared him as a British national - the Congress leader later explained this away as an "inadvertent error" and a typographical error.
Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, a member of the ethics committee told IANS that no meeting of the parliamentary panel has been held in the last two years. "I don't think any meeting of the committee has been held in the last two years."
Prior to this, Swamy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the Congress leader be stripped of his citizenship. He had said in the letter that Gandhi had declared himself as a British citizen for the period 2003 to 2009 in connection with efforts to float a private company in London.
"The name of the company is BACKOPS Limited and the Director and Secretary of this company was Mr Rahul Gandhi, presently Lok Sabha MP," the letter had said.
Among the documents attached was the UK-based company's annual tax returns. Swamy had pointed out in the letter to the Prime Minister: "As you can see from the company's annual return that Rahul Gandhi has given his date of birth correctly but has declared himself to be of British nationality with a United Kingdom address."
In December 2015, the Supreme Court had dismissed the evidence submitted in connection with the citizenship. The plea had been submitted by lawyer M.L. Sharma with the documents pertaining to the incorporation of a firm and the Supreme Court had dismissed the plea as frivolous. It had also, at the time, questioned the authenticity of the document.
"How do we know whether these documents are authentic? Can we start making roving inquiries now?" the bench had said. Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, who was hearing the matter, told Sharma, who insisted on a hearing: "I have two more days in office, don't force me to impose exemplary costs on you."
Like then, so now, the Congress party has stood by Rahul Gandhi and rubbished the allegations. Among them has been his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the party's General Secretary for East Uttar Pradesh.