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Created: 01 May 2019

JAMMU: Complementing the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for issuing a notice to Congress president Rahul Gandhi seeking “factual” position of his citizenship, Brig Anil Gupta, State Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party has said, “The action taken by the MHA is timely since the whole nation is keen to know whether the president of the largest national opposition party is an Indian national or not?” Taking to task the Congress leaders who are critical of the action of the MHA by terming it as “rubbish”/ “political vendetta”/ “ill-timed”/ “malicious and fallacious agenda”, Brig Gupta asserted, “Facts need to be countered with facts and not through emotional or sentimental outbursts. How long does it take for a genuine citizen to prove his citizenship? One wonders why Rahul Gandhi does not put all the speculations to rest for once and all but instead is dodging the issue time and again.”

Earlier another row had erupted after Rahul had filed nomination papers for Amethi. A complaint was raised against his identity, alleging that the Cambridge degree which he claims to have acquired mentions his name as “Raul Vinci.” In the complaint filed by Subramanian Swamy, basis of the MHA notice, it has been alleged that he was Director of a Company that was registered in the United Kingdom in 2003. In the annual returns filed by the British Company in 2005 and 2006, Rahul had declared his nationality as British. Brig Gupta lamented that in 2004, Rahul had become the Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time and how did he manage to conceal his British citizenship? “It is a matter of investigation since the law of the land is very clear that whenever an Indian citizen acquires citizenship of any other country, he automatically forfeits his/her Indian citizenship. A British citizen cannot contest elections in India. The onus lies on Rahul to clarify the confusion and clarify his citizenship,” asserted Brig Gupta.

Brig Gupta also castigated those who are using the weird logic of his Father and Grand Mother being Indian citizens and also the nation’s Prime Minister and hence how can Rahul’s citizenship be doubted? “There is no need to invoke the names of two former PMs since there is no doubt whatsoever in their citizenship. It is Rahul’s citizenship which is being questioned since he had himself claimed to be British citizen in the British company’s annual returns for two consecutive years and the dissolution application dated February 17, 2009.”