New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was added to the voters list before she was an Indian citizen 45 years ago.
BJP hit back amid the ongoing controversy days after Rahul Gandhi accused the saffron party of 'colluding' with the Election Commission to commit voter fraud, according to NDTV.
Countering the Congress, Ex-Union Minister Anurag Thakur claimed that Sonia Gandhi was added to the voter list of 1980 to1982, a year before she became an Indian citizen.
The Congress leader was born Sonia Maino in Italy in 1946.
Following Thakur’s allegations, BJP's Amit Malviya posted what he claimed a ‘photocopy of the extract from electoral rolls of 1980’.
Malviya said the document indicated that ‘Sonia Gandhi was a voter when she did not yet acquire the citizenship of Bharat', adding, ‘If this isn't blatant electoral malpractice, what is’.
Having married Rajiv Gandhi in 1968, Sonia Gandhi had been added to the voter list for the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, before the 1980 Lok Sabha election, he said.
It is reported citing the BJP leader that following outcry in 1982, her name was deleted from the list but her re-inclusion to list in 1983 after securing Indian citizenship, according to him, was also fraudulent.
He claimed the cut-off date was January 1, but Mrs Gandhi became a citizen in April.
Meanwhile, hitting back at Rahul Gandhi over his vote fraud allegations, Thakur accused the Congress leader of lying and presenting incorrect numbers.
The Congress leadership responded to Malaviya that ‘the BJP is raising questions about a 45-year-old matter’ to divert attention from answering questions more relevant today.