Gandhi citizenship rows: Claims, cases and court battles
Sonia Gandhi may have to leave India with her imbecile son if the courts find out the truth behind their citizenship. The endgame is near, and that could be the reason for the Gandhi clan’s newfound aggressiveness against the Prime Minister.
Signora Antonia Maino, known in India as Sonia Gandhi, the Italy-born proprietress of the Indian National Congress, is in major trouble. Special Judge Vishal Gogne of the Delhi Sessions Court on Monday set aside a decision of a magistrate court in Delhi which had refused a probe into the allegation that the Signora’s name was included in the electoral roll of India in 1980, three years before she acquired Indian citizenship. Her name was included in the voters’ list of the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency in 1980, and she had cast a vote in the ensuing general election despite being a citizen of Italy.[1]
In December 2025, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) in Delhi had dismissed the plea seeking a probe into the charges that the inclusion of her name in the voters’ list in 1980 was in violation of all laws of the land. The magistrate had given no specific reason for the dismissal of the plea, and this made the petitioner Vikas Tripathi, a Delhi-based lawyer, approach the Sessions Court. The special judge of the Sessions Court turned down the magistrate’s order and pointed out that the latter had not given any specific reason for the decision. Judge Vishal Gogne pointed out that issues such as how Sonia Gandhi’s name was included in the voters’ list, its deletion, and its reintroduction later had not been considered by the magistrate.
The inclusion, deletion, and further introduction of the Signora’s name in the voters’ list happened during the period 1980 to 1983. Tripathi argued that the inclusion of the Italy-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the voters’ list was illegal. When her name was inducted into the voters’ list in 1980, she was not an Indian citizen. It was on 30 April 1983 that Sonia Gandhi got her Indian citizenship[2]. Though the petitioner had submitted the photocopy of the 1980 electoral roll as proof of his claims, the magistrate was not convinced and ruled that the document did not substantiate his argument.
With the Special Judge ordering the retrial of the case, the stage is set for a battle royale in the citizenship case dating back to 1980, which was brought to national attention by former Union Minister for Law and Justice Subramanian Swamy. The economist-turned-politician has been waging a legal battle against Sonia Gandhi over her claims of Indian citizenship and many financial improprieties.
An investigation into how Sonia Gandhi became a citizen of India threw up shocking revelations. Laws were bent, broken and blasted to facilitate this Italian woman getting Indian citizenship so that she could hijack India à la the modus operandi pursued by the East India Company. Subramanian Swamy had alerted L. K. Advani, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, on 18 May 2001 and 2 May 2004 about the dangers of this lady acquiring Indian citizenship under the naturalisation process.
Sonia Gandhi got Indian citizenship in record time, writes Swamy in his book Sonia Gandhi: Her Life, Her Lies & Her Manipulations, which tells readers about the rags-to-riches story of the Signora who was born as the daughter of Stefano Maino, an Italian with deep-rooted connections with Nazis and Fascists. Though she married Rajiv Gandhi in 1968, she applied for Indian citizenship only on 7 April 1983 and got the citizenship on 13 April 1983, and that too in record time. Swamy has quoted citizenship experts as saying that citizenship acquired through naturalisation is not permanent.
According to Swamy, despite the claims by the Congress Party that Sonia Gandhi had surrendered her Italian passport on 27 April 1983, there are Supreme Court and High Court rulings that state that renunciation of Italian citizenship is no proof of nationality. “As per the Third Schedule, Section (b) of the Citizenship Act, she should have renounced her Italian citizenship. As on 18 May 2001 she was an Italian citizen,” says Swamy.[3]
This is just the tip of the iceberg. N. Gopalaswami, who was the Chief Election Commissioner, had made it clear that there were many discrepancies regarding the Indian citizenship of Sonia Gandhi. But his successor, Navin Chawla, who was an acolyte of the Gandhi household, tampered with the notes of Gopalaswami, and the issue was given a silent burial. The refusal of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party chief, to part with a letter of support to Sonia Gandhi after the fall of the Vajpayee government following the withdrawal of AIADMK support has to be seen in this context. The lady was all dressed up to be sworn in as Prime Minister of India, but Yadav proved to be a hard nut to crack[4].
The same scenario was repeated in May 2004 when she was elected as the parliamentary party leader of the Congress as the BJP-led NDA failed to touch the magic figure of 271. Sonia Gandhi, who rushed to President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam with her claims to occupy the Prime Minister’s chair, had to make a hasty retreat as Kalam, on the advice of Swamy, pointed out to her the Law of Reciprocity in the Citizenship Act. Gandhi, who was all enthused to take up the new job, had to withdraw from the race, and she anointed a subservient Manmohan Singh for the job. The Sardarji did not disappoint his Madam even once during the ten-year tenure.
The Italian citizenship of Rahul Gandhi, the chosen heir of the Signora, is also hanging in the balance. Swamy has informed the Union Home Ministry about the British citizenship of Rahul Gandhi, while a series of cases have been filed by BJP activists in various courts of India challenging the dual citizenship of the elder son of Sonia Gandhi[5].
A lot of action is awaitedas the mother-son duo shuttles between courts in New Delhi and Lucknow.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] Delhi court sets aside Magistrate’s order refusing probe in Sonia Gandhi’s 1980 pre-citizenship voter list entry – Sep 21, 2026, PGurus.com
[2] A citizenship question – Sep 29, 2001, Frontline
[3] Swamy on Sonia’s citizenship – Nov 22, 2002, Frontline
[4] When Mulayam Singh stopped Sonia Gandhi from becoming PM over ‘foreign origin’ – Oct 10, 2022, TOI
[5] Rahul Gandhi Declared Himself British, Alleges BJP Leader Subramanian Swamy Nov 16, 2015, NDTV
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