Indian SC dismisses claim Rahul Gandhi is secret Brit
India's top court yesterday threw out a petition seeking to bar Rahul Gandhi from contesting the ongoing general election over claims he is secretly British. The 48-year-old scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty is the main challenger to Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking a second term in office after storming to power in 2014. Opponents of Gandhi accuse him of lying about his nationality and allege that he holds British citizenship, citing annual returns filed by a now-defunct British company in which he was once a director. India does not allow dual nationality and only Indian citizens can contest elections. The Supreme Court called the petition frivolous and an attempt to start a "roving inquiry" into the long-standing claims against Gandhi. "Just because a paper notes his citizenship as British, does he become a British citizen?" a bench headed by chief justice Ranjan Gogoi said. Gandhi, whose mother Sonia is Italian-born and whose father was assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, has always denied holding foreign citizenship.
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