BJD MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh urges HC to dismiss writs challenging her nationality

CUTTACK: BJD MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh has filed a written statement before Orissa High Court stating that she is an Indian and urged it to dismiss all petitions questioning her origin.

The statement of the Lok Sabha member from Kandhamal was filed yesterday in response to a notice issued to her by the HC last month pertaining to an election petition filed by BJP leader and former MP Rudra Madhav Ray.

Ray, who had lost to Singh in the October 2014 by-election, had challenged the BJD leader's election stating that she automatically disqualifies to be a member of Parliament as she is a Nepalese and has not accepted Indian citizenship yet.

Singh refuted Ray's contention and claimed that she is an Indian born in India to a Nepalese father and Indian mother.

She said she was born in Ranchi in 1971 when her parents were staying there for a brief period.

In another application to the High Court, the BJD parliamentarian has urged the court to dismiss the petition of Ray at threshold as it lacks merit.

To this, Ray's counsel Gopal Agarwal sought to file a rejoinder following which the single-judge bench of Justice Biswanath Rath adjourned the matter to March 4.