BJP questions Congress after court rules on Sonia’s electoral roll

Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi. File photo: AICC via PTI.

The BJP hit out at the Congress on Tuesday (September 2, 2026), a day after a Delhi court quashed the order of a magistrate who refused to investigate a complaint alleging that senior Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s name appeared in the electoral roll in 1980, three years before she became an Indian citizen.

After hearing new arguments, the court sent the case back to the Magistrate’s Court to issue a reasoned decision.

At a press conference on Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari asked if there were any irregularities in the inclusion of Mrs Gandhi’s name in the electoral roll in 1980. Stating that such an action was a violation of Article 326 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, he said it was also a cognizable offence.

Mr Bhandari said Mrs Gandhi was not an Indian citizen in 1980 and questioned whether there was “an attempt to forge documents, given that the Congress was in power from 1980 to 1983”.

“There can be no greater theft of democracy than this because on one hand they are supporting infiltrators in the name of resisting SIR (Special Intensive Revision) while on the other hand, when they themselves are allegedly stealing democracy through forged documents, they are silent,” he claimed, seeking an explanation from Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

“If Rahul Gandhi does not answer all these questions, the people of the country and the youth will take his silence as an admission of guilt, indicating that they have committed theft of democracy,” Mr. Bhandari said.

Published – 22 Sep 2026 22:18 IST