India asks Rahul Gandhi to clear citizenship status

Indian government has served a notice to Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi, asking him to clarify within a fortnight the "factual position" on his citizenship status.

Its home ministry said in a letter to Rahul that it received a representation from Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Subramanian Swamy which stated that a company named Backops Ltd was registered in the United Kingdom in 2003 with Rahul as one of its directors, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The ministry said Swamy's letter also mentioned that in the British company's annual returns filed on October 10, 2005 and October 31, 2006, shows Rahul's date of birth as June 19, 1970 and had declared his nationality as British.

"Further, in the dissolution application dated February 17, 2009 of the above referred company, your nationality has been mentioned as British. You are requested to intimate the factual position in the matter to this Ministry within a fortnight of the receipt of this communication," the notice issued on Monday said.

Rahul Gandhi is in the midst of campaigning for ongoing parliamentary elections with four phases of the seven-phase polling completed and three more remaining to be held by May.