NDA's Wayanad candidate demands review of Rahul Gandhi's candidature citing his 'dual citizenship', writes to EC

Wayanad: NDA candidate from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency Thushar Vellappally on Sunday filed a complaint with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, seeking review of the nomination filed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. In his letter written through his advocate Sinil Kumar G, Vellappally claimed that Rahul is “not eligible to contest” the Lok Sabha elections because he holds dual passports and “is not a citizen of India.” [caption id=“attachment_6491031” align=“alignleft” width=“375”] File image of Tushar Vellapally. Image courtesy: Twitter@thushar_vn[/caption] “It is understood that Rahul Gandhi is having a passport of a foreign country also. He has not disclosed this fact in the nomination filed or in the affidavit,” wrote Vellappally in his complaint. “It is said that Rahul Gandhi has professedly used the name Rahul Vincy in his educational certificates. There is no material to substantiate that Rahul Vincy and Rahul Gandhi is the same person,” he added. The NDA candidate further mentioned in his letter that the Returning Officer in Amethi too raised serious doubts over Rahul’s qualification and citizenship. “It is worthwhile to mention that the Returning Officer in Amethi wherein Rahul Gandhi is contesting, has raised serious doubts about his qualifications and even citizenship, and hence has postponed the scrutiny of his nomination papers on multiple grounds,” he wrote. “I request you to review the acceptance of the nomination of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad constituency to check for the validity and reject the application,” the letter further read. Vellappally further asked the CEO to obtain a sworn affidavit from Rahul or his authorized agent saying that he is an Indian citizen and is holding only one passport. Thushar Vellappally is the chief of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), the political arm of the Sree Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP). He was fielded by the NDA against Rahul from Wayanad seat on 1 April. Condemning the allegations against Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader KC Venugopal said: “These are bogus claims and is not even an issue to be answered in my view. They know their future. Hence they are resorting to this kind of things.”