BJP demands Rahul Gandhi's clarification on his education, citizenship

'Rahul Gandhi's name has been shown to be listed as a British citizen in documents related to a company in the UK. Was Rahul Gandhi a British citizen?' said BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao in a press conference at party headquarters here.

There is a discrepancy or an attempt to suppress facts and some haziness about Rahul Gandhi's qualifications and the years in which he acquired those qualifications, Rao said.

The allegations that have been made, and the answers to those questions, the counsel of Rahul Gandhi didn't have, the BJP leader said.

Time's been provided till Monday to Gandhi, he said.

Questions has been raised by the returning officer in Amethi and not just the BJP, Rao said, adding that the Congress party should give answers.

Papers submitted to a London firm, clearly show that in memorandum of association in 2005, his citizenship was British, he said. 'Were you a citizen of the UK in 2005, earlier or later,' Rao asked.

Rahul Gandhi has to either face the law here, or in the UK, Rao said.

'Once you lose your citizenship status, you're not qualified to contest any election. So Rahul Gandhi must come out today and give the real answer about his citizenship,' the BJP leader said.

According to Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, Rao said, 'If you acquire citizenship of some other country, you forfeit your Indian citizenship automatically.'

'There were discrepancies in his educational qualification mentioned in his affidavits submitted in 2204, 2009, 2014 and 2019. There is an attempt to suppress facts,' Rao said.

'His education qualifications don’t match in the documents. He has used the name 'Raul Vinci' in his college and there are no certificates available in the name of Rahul Gandhi,' the BJP leader said.

He added, "So, we are asking is Rahul Gandhi and Raul Vinci the same person? If it is not the case then we demand that he gives his original educational certificates, so that these can be verified."

'There is a great suspense over this - he runs away every time without answering. Now a constitutional authority is seeking answers so he'll have to answer and we look forward to Rahul Gandhi's revelations,' he said.

This is an opportunity for Rahul Gandhi to place all the evidence and facts before the people, he added.

'We would certainly want Rahul Gandhi to tell the people of Amethi rather than keeping mum because it would only lead to the disqualification of his candidature,' Rao stated.

Amethi Returning Officer Ram Manohar Mishra has ordered the postponement of scrutiny of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s nomination papers to April 22.

An Independent candidate, Dhruv Lal, has filed a complaint alleging discrepancies in Rahul's candidature.

Amethi, a traditional bastion of the Gandhi family, will go to polls on May 6.