In a series of tweets and retweets since Monday, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has renewed his allegations that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is a British citizen. Swamy had first raised the allegation in 2015 when he referred to British company law papers that allegedly showed Rahul as being a British national in the documents of a now-defunct company.
Over the past decade, Swamy has been a strident critic of the Nehru-Gandhi family and has led the BJP's charge in the National Herald case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul.
In a tweet on Monday, Swamy noted, “I do not know why some parties want to declare Rahul Gandhi as next PM. As self confessed in writing that he is British citizen he can never be [prime minister]. My complaint Advani Chaired Ethics Committee has put in cold storage. But Home Ministry is investigating now.” Swamy's tweet came a day after DMK chief M.K. Stalin had declared Rahul should be the prime ministerial candidate of a anti-BJP grand alliance.
On Tuesday, Swamy tweeted an article published on a popular rightwing website in May that alleged Rahul was a British citizen and had used the name 'Raul Vinci'. Swamy had also previously alleged Rahul had used the Vinci name when abroad.
In 2016, Rahul claimed Swamy was “misleading” the nation on the issue of his alleged British citizenship and dared the BJP leader to produce proof to substantiate his claims. Rahul made the statement in response to a notice from the Ethics Committee of Parliament. The complaint against Rahul was given to the speaker of Parliament in January 2016 by BJP MP Maheish Girri, who wanted an inquiry into Swamy's allegations against Rahul.
In September 2017, Swamy had petitioned Home Minister Rajnath Singh for a probe into Rahul's alleged British citizenship. Swamy had then claimed Rahul had identified himself as a British citizenship on company documents multiple times from 2003 to 2009.
Previously, Swamy had alleged Rahul was an Italian citizen, tweeting in 2015 that he had travelled overseas on an Italian passport.