The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pulled out the electoral roll of 1980, claiming that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s name appeared on the list long before she legally became the citizen of India. BJP IT-cell head Amit Malviya shared a detailed post on X mentioning how Sonia Gandhi’s name allegedly appeared twice on the voter roll, and both the times she was not the citizen of India as she held onto her Italian citizenship. 

Using the opposition’s “vote chori” claim against the Congress, Malviya alleged that this particular case explains “Rahul Gandhi‘s fondness for regularising ineligible and illegal voters, and his opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)”.

“Sonia Gandhi’s tryst with India’s voters’ list is riddled with glaring violations of electoral law,” Malviya said. The BJP leader claimed that Sonia Gandhi’s name first appeared on the rolls in 1980 — three years before she became an Indian citizen and while she still held Italian citizenship. 

“At the time, the Gandhi family lived at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Until then, the voters registered at that address were Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi,” he added in the X post. 

“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,” Malviya further said.

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He claimed that this particular 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,” he added.

BJP flags second instance of Sonia Gandhi’s “vote chori”

Malviya went on to say that the Rajya Sabha MP’s name appeared again on the list 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, he alleged.

“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,” Malviya mentioned.

He also shared the photo of a black and white single paper document titled “100 questions about Ms Sonia Gandhi”, which shows that a total of five names are there on the 1980 voter list for the address – Safdarjung Road. These are: Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi.

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“We are not even asking why it took her 15 years after marrying Rajiv Gandhi to accept Indian citizenship. If this isn’t blatant electoral malpractice, what is?” he asked. 

Centre vs Opposition on Bihar SIR

The current battle between the Centre and the opposition parties arises from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being done by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar, just months ahead of the assembly elections. The opposition is claiming the exercise is meant only to reduce the number of voters to benefit the BJP-led NDA.

The ECI, meanwhile, has said the exercise was necessary to identify the illegal voters and those who have either died or not staying in the state any longer. The matter is currently before the Supreme Court.