Sonia Gandhi became a voter first, then an Indian
A Surya Prakash / New Delhi
The Pioneer
may 11, 1999
Title: Sonia Gandhi became a voter first, then an Indian
Author: A Surya Prakash / New Delhi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: may 11, 1999
Ms Sonia Gandhi's name first entered India's voters' list in 1980,
three years before she became a citizen of India and renounced her
Italian citizenship. Following an outcry in 1982, her name was deleted
only to be reinstated in 1983.
But even the reinstatement may be questionable. Ms Gandhi was
conferred Indian citizenship by the Government on April 30, 1983. The
qualifying date for registering as a voter was January 1 that year.
Indira Gandhi's elder daughter-in-law had already made a false start
in Indian business and industry in the 1970s. Her inappropriate
association with two Maruti companies came to light after the A C
Gupta Commission, appointed by the Morarji Desai Government, submitted
its findings in 1978.
Following the report, the Government took over Maruti Limited and
seriously began efforts to give India a "wholly indigenous" small car.
Ms Gandhi's dalliance with business may have ended after this fiasco
but there is evidence to show that her tryst with politics began in
1980, and that too on a false note.
The electoral rolls of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency were
revised in 1980, with January 1 of that year as the qualifying date.
This revision enabled people to seek additions, deletions and changes
in the list and among those who did so were members of the Gandhi
family, who was then the Prime Minister.
The family lived in 1, Safdarjung Road and until then had four voters
-- Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and Ms Maneka Gandhi. In
1980, there was an addition to the list - Ms Sonia Gandhi. She was
listed as a voter at serial number 388 in polling station 145 of the
constituency.
This would have passed off as a routine addition, but for the fact
that Ms Sonia Gandhi was not at that time an Indian citizen, a
fundamental qualification for anyone seeking entry into the voters
list.
The fraudulent entry would have gone unnoticed but for 'Surya India',
a news magazine edited by her estranged sister-in-law, which raked up
the issue. 'Surya India' did a cover story on Ms Sonia Gandhi in
October 1982 and asked how a citizen of Italy could be a voter in
India. An official in Delhi's Chief Electoral Office had told the
magazine that this was a blatant violation of rules, but had pleaded
his helplessness.
The magazine quoted him saying: "It is not for us to check whether
applicants are bonafide citizens of this country. We expect only
genuine citizens to enroll themselves. Besides, who can expect an
official to question the veracity of statements made by a responsible
member of the Prime Minister's family when they go to cross-check the
voters' list?"
Soon after the scandal broke out, the Chief Electoral Officer was
forced to take cognisance of this case and remove the foreign national
from the rolls. This he did in 1982. By then, Ms Sonia Gandhi had
illegally remained on the electoral rolls for almost three years.
Ms Sonia Gandhi's entry into the electoral rolls and her continuance
on it for such a long time is not a simple case of oversight. The name
of Sanjay Gandhi, who had died in a tragic plane crash in June 1980,
was deleted from the list of voters in 1, Safdarjung Road when the
rolls were updated in 1981, but Ms Sonia Gandhi remained on the rolls
at number 388. Her name was deleted only after the controversy erupted
the following year. The order of deletion was issued by Mr K L Sethi,
then-Election Officer, Delhi.
Ms Sonia Gandhi re-entered the voters' list following a fresh revision
in 1983. She was listed at serial number 236 in polling station 140 of
the New Delhi parliamentary constituency. But did she have the
citizenship qualification this time?
The Pioneer has ascertained that Ms Sonia Gandhi applied for Indian
citizenship on April 7, 1983 and was granted it on April 30, 1983.
This means that she finally decided to take up Indian citizenship 15
years after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi in 1968.
Her entry into the electoral rolls in 1983 is also questionable
because the qualifying date for entering the rolls was January 1,
1983, but she became a bonafide citizen only on April 30 that year.
It would be in the fitness of things for Ms Sonia Gandhi to explain
why she was far more anxious to enter the voters' list in India than
to give up her Italian citizenship.
In any case, the bottomline is that the contents of the Gupta
Commission report and the voters' list episode provide evidence of Ms
Sonia Gandhi's cavalier attitude towards Indian laws. Regrettably, it
would appear, the Nehru-Gandhi family was party to these fraudulent
declarations.
Although an Italian citizen, she was appointed managing director of
Maruti Technical Services Private Limited on January 25, 1973. The
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), which was debated in
Parliament that year, came into force on January 1, 1974.
Among other things, it prohibited foreigners from owning shares or
accepting appointment in Indian companies without the permission of
the Reserve Bank of India.
Yet, she continued as managing director and resigned only on January
21, 1975. She had thus violated FERA for over a year. Section 56 of
the Act, which lists the punishment for contravention of FERA, says
that violations of this nature can attract imprisonment for periods
ranging from six months to seven years.
Again, in 1980, her entry into the voters' list while she was still a
citizen of Italy, constituted a violation of the country's electoral
law.
Form 4 in the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 clearly states that
"only the names of those who are citizens of India should be entered".
This is the form that is sent to the occupant of the household,
meaning the head of the family. In 1980, the head of the household was
Indira Gandhi. Form 6 can be filled by an individual applicant. Here
again, the applicant must declare that he or she is a citizen of
India.
Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 says: "Any
person who makes a statement or declaration which is false and which
he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be
true, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to one year or with fine or both."
There is, however, no evidence that the Electoral Officer proceeded
against anyone for such an obvious and wilful violation of the
sanctity of India's electoral rolls by a member of the family of
then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
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