British citizenship row: Congress rejects 'fabricated' charges against Rahul Gandhi

Subramaniam Swamy alleged Gandhi held 65% of total shares of a UK company by declaring himself a British citizen

Congress Monday rejected all charges against party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, against whom BJP issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to questions on whether he had once declared himself a British citizen.

"When the BJP has absolutely nothing left to say against the congress, then coming out with personal attacks is their trend and they are doing just that today. We strongly reject all these fabricated charges," Congress leader PL Punia said.

BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy had accused Rahul of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that Gandhi be stripped of his Indian citizenship and his membership of Parliament.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had floated a company called Backops Limited in 2003 in the United Kingdom, and in the annual return form, he had declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address. Rahul also held 65% of the total shares issued by this company, Swamy claimed.

Echoing similar sentiments, Janata Dal (United) leader Ajay Alok saidt the BJP was raising baseless issues without any evidence against Rahul whereas the Mallya issue was being sidetracked.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, headed by veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, has issued a show-cause notice to Rahul Gandhi.

Parliamentary Ethics Committee member Arjun Ram Meghwal said that it was a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds.

"A complaint reached the Lok Sabha speaker which she forwarded to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee therefore issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London," Meghwal told ANI.