Party honchos slam Rahul-is-British claim; say the complaint is dredged up to divert attention from real issues
A wall graffiti depicting Rahul Gandhi and PM Narendra Modi in a tug of war seen in Mumbai. Pic/AFP
The heat and dust is still swirling in Mumbai post the elections. A complaint from BJP MP Dr Subramanian Swamy, which says Congress president Rahul Gandhi's nationality was declared as British in the documents related to a UK company that he was a director in, has now come to life, dominating the narrative yesterday. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Congress chief to provide the "factual position" of his citizenship.
'It's mentally paralysed'
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Slamming the BJP's accusation, Indian National Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said, "It is not just politically desperate but mentally paralysed as well. Such ad hominem (personal) attacks on Rahul Gandhi will backfire. After the first four phases of the general elections a panicky BJP is seeing the writing on the wall." He further said that the allegation was "absurd and baseless".
"Rahul Gandhi has been elected thrice to the Lok Sabha. The Election Commission has found everything in order. The Supreme Court had outrightly rejected this frivolous complaint in 2015, citing that the integrity of the documents was suspected. The Parliamentary Ethics Committee also refused to entertain this grotesque nonsense," he added. For Susie Shah, general secretary of Mumbai Congress, "this is a diversionary tactic, and the BJP has resorted to its familiar trope of digging up ghosts around election time. Were they able to build the Ram Mandir? Is there any proof on the Bofors issue? The charges of (Robert) Vadra are revived around polling time."
Shah though reposed her faith in the public, saying, "They will see through this gimmick." Mathew Antony, Mumbai-based State Secretary Maharashtra and National Political Action Group Member, All India Professionals Congress (AIPC), called the complaint, "Absolute absurdity. It has been a tried and tested tactic before but there is no merit in it. I see this as BJP's continued misuse of institutions of power to create a false perception that something is wrong."
Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Jaipur. Pic/PTI
'Rahul your silence is louder than words'
Mumbai's Jagdish Shetty, national general secretary Of Virat Hindustan Sangam (VHS) and close associate of Dr Swamy slammed the Congress as "diversionary". Shetty said, "The Congress leaders as usual are misleading people and trying to divert attention from real issues. Dr Swamy had raised the issue first in 2015 wherein he had produced the pages from the website of Company House Of England (equivalent of Registrar Of Companies) which shows the annual returns filed by Rahul Gandhi where he is mentioned as a British citizen," he said.
Shetty detailed a chain of events and said it was the Congress leader's silence that was louder than words. He added, "The Congress is harping on the timing but the fact remains that he was issued a notice by the Ethics Committee in 2016 and the present process is a continuation of Dr Swamy's earlier complaint."
Shetty asked, "Why is the Congress silent on that specific issue? Why can't Rahul tell the nation what he had mentioned in the forms? If he has nothing to hide, he should welcome the notice, and say he has not filed any form wherein he himself claimed he is a British national."
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