British citizenship row: Rahul Gandhi decides to reply to Lok Sabha ethics panel’s notice

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has decided to reply to the notice issued to him by the Lok Sabha ethics committee on a complaint by BJP MP Maheish Girri, questioning his citizenship based on an original complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. However, the Congress will oppose the very admissibility of the complaint by the House panel by arguing that the panel "is not empowered to take up complaints against an MP on issues/charges prior to one becoming Member of Parliament."

In an indirect potshot at the Speaker, the Congress leaders wondered why the BJP complaint against Gandhi was "swiftly" referred to the panel, while "no similar promptness was being shown" to the Congress MPs’ privilege notice against HRD minister Smriti Irani to the concerned House panel.

Reacting to reporters’ questions on the ET report about the ethics committee notice to him, Gandhi on Monday said: "We will deal with that." The AICC, on its part, lashed out at BJP accusing it of "vendetta politics" and termed the move as "mala fide and defamatory."

Ering Ninong, Congress nominee in the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee and KC Venugopal, the party whip, have questioned the admissibility of the BJP MP’s complaint against Gandhi. "A notice to Rahulji, based on the BJP MP’s complaint is a mere formality. The real issue is the fraudulent charge against Gandhi’s citizenship, besides it being a completely baseless and fraudulent allegation, can’t be admitted by the ethics committee as the complaint is concerning a period when Gandhi was not even a member of Parliament," Ninong said.