Home Ministry bound to take cognizance of allegations by any MP: Rajnath on Rahul citizenship row

Dismissing allegations of political vendetta against Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his citizenship, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the home ministry is bound to take cognizance of the allegations levelled by any Member of Parliament.

"When a Member of Parliament writes to any ministry, action required on their query is taken. It is not a big development, it is a normal process," Singh told media persons here.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, "MHA's notice to Rahul Gandhi is based on information provided by Rahul himself. Gandhi's company gave information on his British citizenship."

On April 20, BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao had also raised a similar objection to Gandhi's citizenship at a press conference here.

Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, however, opined that the allegations against Rahul Gandhi were "baseless". "These type of baseless allegations grab headlines for a day, which is the intention of Subramanian Swamy. He is a guided missile," he said.

Jha further said that MHA's summons showed that they were afraid of Rahul Gandhi.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday issued a notice to Gandhi after receiving a complaint from Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy.

Swamy has alleged that a company named Backops Limited was registered in the United Kingdom in the year 2003 and that Gandhi was one of the Directors and Secretary of the company.

Swamy has also stated that the Congress president had declared his nationality as British in a UK-based company.

"It has been further brought out in the complaint that in the Company's Annual Returns filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006, your date of birth has been given as June 19, 1970, and that you had declared your nationality as British. Further, in the Dissolution application dated 17/02/2009 of the above-referred company, your nationality has been mentioned as British," the notice said.

The Ministry has asked Gandhi to respond within a 'fortnight' to the allegations.