Indian court dismisses claim Rahul Gandhi is secretly British
- A petition had been submitted to the court seeking to bar the scion of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty from contesting the ongoing election
- Opponents of the 48-year-old accuse him of lying about his nationality and holding British citizenship
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Opponents of Gandhi accuse him of lying about his nationality and allege that he holds British citizenship, citing annual returns filed by a now-defunct British company in which he was once a director.
India does not allow dual nationality and only Indian citizens can contest elections.
The Supreme Court called the petition frivolous and an attempt to start a “roving inquiry” into the long-standing claims against Gandhi.
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Gandhi, whose mother Sonia is Italian-born and whose father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated has always denied holding foreign citizenship.
India’s home ministry, controlled by Modi’s government, last month shot off a letter to Gandhi asking him to come clean on the issue.
Gandhi and Modi have traded almost daily barbs over corruption, national security and the economy during the campaign.
At a public rally in New Delhi on Wednesday, Modi, 68, accused the Gandhi family of using an India Navy warship as its “personal taxi” when Rahul’s father Rajiv was the prime minister.
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“Rajiv Gandhi was accompanied by his in-laws who had come from Italy. Question is whether the security of the country was not compromised by taking foreigners on-board a warship,” Modi said.
Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 by a Tamil suicide bomber when Rahul was 20. Modi last week called the former prime minister “corrupt” while on the campaign trail.
“Your Karma awaits you. Projecting your inner beliefs about yourself onto my father won’t protect you. All my love and a huge hug,” Gandhi tweeted in response.
The penultimate round of India’s election takes place on Sunday with citizens in the capital New Delhi among those casting ballots.
