SIR row: BJP cites Sonia’s vote history to push back at Congress and Opposition

The ruling BJP on Wednesday cited the vote history of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to push back at the Opposition in the ongoing row around alleged electoral fraud and special intensive revision.

BJP social media chief Amit Malviya today posted on X Sonia Gandhi’s vote history in India and said she was twice named a voter even when she was not an Indian citizen.

“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 Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Her name first appeared on the rolls in 1980 — three years before she became an Indian citizen and while she still held Italian citizenship,” said Malviya in allegations which top BJP leaders then amplified.

He said at the time, the Gandhi family lived at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the voters registered at that address were Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi.

“In 1980, the electoral rolls of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency were revised with January 1, 1980, as the qualifying date. During this revision, Sonia Gandhi’s name was added, appearing at serial number 388 in polling station 145. This entry was a clear violation of the law, which requires a person to be an Indian citizen to be registered as a voter. Following an outcry in 1982, her name was deleted from the list — only to reappear in 1983,” said Malviya citing evidence on X.

He said even her reinstatement raised serious questions and in the fresh revision of the electoral rolls that year, Sonia Gandhi was listed at serial number 236 in polling station 140.

“The qualifying date for registration was January 1, 1983 — yet she was granted Indian citizenship only on April 30, 1983. In other words, Sonia Gandhi’s name entered the electoral rolls twice without meeting the basic citizenship requirement — first as an Italian citizen in 1980, and then again in 1983, months before she legally became a citizen of India. We are not even asking why it took her 15 years after marrying Rajiv Gandhi to accept Indian citizenship,” the BJP said asking whether or not this is blatant electoral malpractice.