"He is a British citizen": Advocate Ashok Pandey after complaint filed against Rahul Gandhi's Raebareli nomination

Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 4 : A complaint has been filed against Rahul Gandhi for filing his nomination from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh over Wayanad MP's nationality and his recent conviction in a defamation case.
The complaint raises a question about Rahul Gandhi's nationality and his recent conviction in a defamation case, and how his nomination can be deemed valid by the Election Commission.
"On behalf of Anirudh Pratap Singh, we have registered a complaint with the Returning Officer of Raebareli demanding the cancellation of Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers on two grounds. First, Rahul Gandhi has been convicted for two years...He is ineligible to contest elections. Even though the Supreme Court has put a stay on Rahul Gandhi's conviction, it has not given any verdict like Afzal Ansari saying he can contest again...," Advocate Ashok Pandey said on behalf of complainant Anirudh Pratap Singh who lodged the complaint against Rahul Gandhi.
Pandey said that the recent stay by the top court does not involve permission to contest elections.
"Since his stay on conviction does not involve permission to contest elections he should back off," Pandey said.
Earlier in February, Rahul Gandhi was granted bail in a defamation case dating back to August 2018.
Alleging that Rahul Gandhi is a British national, Pandey said, "Second, back in 2006, Rahul Gandhi once mentioned his Nationality as British. Being a British citizen, he cannot Constitutionally contest elections... After my complaint, Rahul Gandhi's representative was called in and my complaint has been accepted."
In response to the allegations, Congress leader Ajay Pal Singh said that the complainant challenged Rahul Gandhi's nationality and his nomination is valid.
"There's a candidate who registered a complaint against Rahul Gandhi after the period of complaining was over... The complainant said he has filed a writ challenging Rahul Gandhi's nationality... Rahul Gandhi's nomination was valid previously as well, and it is valid now also," Singh said.
[{9e3f8bc6-638f-4e56-b1f1-f70284cd04eb:intradmin/ANI-20240504174837.png}]
Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency on Friday. He was accompanied by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and her husband and businessman Robert Vadra.
Rahul is pitted against Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. A sitting MP from Kerala's Wayanad, Rahul is also seeking a fresh term in the Lower House from the seat that polled in Phase 2 of the general elections on April 26.
In Amethi, the Congress will be represented by Kishori Lal Sharma, a longtime loyalist of the Gandhi family. Kishori Lal Sharma filed his nomination from the Amethi seat earlier in the day.
The voting in both seats will be held in the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on May 7. Polling for 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on May 7, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4.