The BJP on Saturday asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to come clean on his alleged British citizenship after Ram Manohar Mishra, the returning officer in Amethi, postponed the scrutiny of his nomination papers to Monday. The examination was deferred after Dhruv Lal, an independent candidate, raised objections against the details furnished by Rahul Gandhi in his nomination papers.
Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers were scheduled for scrutiny on Saturday. "I think it's a matter of great surprise that the objections that have been raised regarding Rahul Gandhi's citizenship haven't been answered. Rahul Gandhi's name has been shown to be listed as a British citizen in documents related to a company in the UK. Was Rahul Gandhi a British citizen?" asked BJP leader G V L N Rao in a press meet in Delhi on Saturday. "Rahul Gandhi's legal representative doesn't have answers to questions raised by other candidates on details given in his nomination. They have asked time to counter the allegations," he added.
According to news reports, Rahul Gandhi has been mentioned as a British citizen in the details of a company that he was the director in 2006. "On the basis of certificate of incorporation of a company registered in the UK, he declared himself a UK citizen. A non-citizen cannot contest polls here," said Dhruv Lal's lawyer Ravi Prakash in Amethi.
Rahul has also filed his nomination papers from Wayanad constituency in Kerala and no such issues cropped up there. Voting takes place in Wayanad on April 23.
(This story was first published in The Week.)
