The BJP has claimed that Congress MP Sonia Gandhi’s name appeared on the voters’ list three years before she became an Indian citizen. The party made the charge while countering the opposition’s allegations of voter fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
BJP MP and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur said Sonia, born in Italy, was added to the electoral roll in 1980. He pointed out this was three years before she got Indian citizenship.
Thakur repeated the claims made by BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya. Malviya posted a copy of the 1980 electoral roll of polling station 145 in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. The list had the names of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi. He claimed Sonia still held Italian citizenship at the time.
Malviya alleged Sonia’s inclusion was a violation of electoral laws. “This perhaps explains Rahul Gandhi’s support for regularising ineligible voters and his opposition to SIR,” he wrote on X.