Congress slams government on Rahul's citizenship issue

The Congress on Thursday slammed the government on the issue of party vice president Rahul Gandhi's citizenship issue being referred to the Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee.

"They (government) have blindly referred the case of citizenship of Shri Rahul Gandhi to the Ethics Committee without any sense of judgement and without even making out a case," leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told media persons here.

"This absolutely demonstrates the hatred against the Congress leadership and against the opposition, as to how arbitrary they can act. If they think that by doing this they can damage the image of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, it is impossible," he added.

The Ethics Committee has served notice on Rahul Gandhi, asking if he had ever declared himself a British citizen.

"The ethics committee has served Rahul Gandhi a notice and will act on the matter only after a reply from the Congress member," BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal told reporters here on March 14.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy had alleged last year that Gandhi declared himself as a British national in the annual return of a company in Britain.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy alleged that Gandhi was a director in Backops Limited, which was incorporated in 2003 in Britain and dissolved in 2009.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had "given his date of birth correctly but declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address".

Following the controversy, BJP MP Maheish Girri had written to the Lok Sabha speaker on the issue and the matter was later referred to the Ethics Committee.