In reply to ethics panel, Rahul slams Swamy for misleading it

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attacked BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Maheish Girri for “wantonly “misleading the Parliament’s Ethics Committee, dismissing BJP leaders’ allegations that he had applied for British citizenship.

In his reply to the panel that had served him notice a fortnight ago, Gandhi said he “expected” House Speaker Sumitra Mahajan “to have satisfied herself about the authenticity of the claim before referring the matter to the Ethics Committee”.

Mahajan had forwarded BJP’s East Delhi MP Girri’s complaint to the committee. BJP leader Swamy has been vocal about the same issue for some time now.

The BJP leaders’ had rested their case on the two annual returns of Backops Limited, the erstwhile company owned by Gandhi, where he was described as a British citizen. The Congress had clarified that it was an accountant’s error.

Turning the tables on the BJP, Gandhi said, “Citizenship is a matter of fact. Whether I have sought or acquired British citizenship would be a part of the official documentation with the Home Office of Great Britain. I would have expected the Committee to have asked the complainant to seek a clarification from the Home Office before filing their complaints.”

In his two-page response to Lok Sabha’s additional secretary VR Ramesh, Gandhi also pointed out that a case against him on the same allegations have been struck down by the Supreme Court. He refuted that the allegations are fit to be taken up by the Ethics Committee and quoted Rule 233 A of the House that “the complainant is required to submit supporting evidences and he must ensure it is not false, frivolous and vexatious”.

In the written reply to the panel headed by BJP patriarch LK Advani, Gandhi maintained it is an attempt to malign his image. The letter, seen as a political counter-attack by the Congress leader, also maintained that Swamy had first lodged this complaint before Prime Minister Narendra Modi.