BJP IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya Alleges Sonia Gandhi Registered as Voter Before Indian Citizenship

New Delhi: BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya on Wednesday made a sensational allegation that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was registered as a voter in India even before she officially became an Indian citizen.

Malviya’s remarks came after the Congress party criticised alleged irregularities in voter lists and opposed the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

In a post on X, Malviya claimed, “Sonia Gandhi’s tryst with India’s voters’ list is riddled with glaring violations of electoral law. This perhaps explains Rahul Gandhi’s fondness for regularising ineligible and illegal voters, and his opposition to the SIR.”

According to Malviya, Sonia Gandhi’s name first appeared on the electoral rolls in 1980—three years before she obtained Indian citizenship, when she still held Italian nationality. At that time, the Gandhi family resided at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, where registered voters included Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi.

Malviya explained that the electoral rolls for the New Delhi parliamentary constituency were revised with January 1, 1980, as the qualifying date. During this revision, Sonia Gandhi’s name was added at serial number 388 in polling station 145.

“This entry was a clear violation of the law, which mandates Indian citizenship for voter registration,” Malviya alleged.

He added that after public outcry in 1982, her name was deleted, only to reappear in 1983. In that year’s revision, Sonia Gandhi was listed at serial number 236 in polling station 140, with January 1, 1983, as the qualifying date—even though she officially received Indian citizenship on April 30, 1983.

“In other words, Sonia Gandhi’s name entered the electoral rolls twice without meeting the basic citizenship requirement—first in 1980 as an Italian citizen, and then again in 1983, months before she legally became a citizen of India,” Malviya stated.

He also questioned why Sonia Gandhi took 15 years after marrying Rajiv Gandhi to accept Indian citizenship, calling it “blatant electoral malpractice” and attached an extract from the 1980 electoral rolls as evidence.