BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya on Wednesday made a serious allegation against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, claiming that she was registered as a voter in India even before acquiring Indian citizenship.

Malviya’s remarks come amid Congress criticism of alleged irregularities in voter lists and their opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

In a post on X, Malviya wrote, “Sonia Gandhi’s tryst with India’s voters’ list is riddled with glaring violations of electoral law. This perhaps explains Rahul Gandhi’s fondness for regularising ineligible and illegal voters, and his opposition to the SIR.”

According to Malviya, Sonia Gandhi’s name first appeared on the New Delhi parliamentary constituency electoral rolls in 1980, three years before she obtained Indian citizenship. At the time, she was still an Italian citizen and resided with the Gandhi family at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The voters registered at that address included Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi.

“This entry was a clear violation of the law, which mandates Indian citizenship for voter registration,” Malviya alleged.

He added that after public outcry in 1982, Sonia Gandhi’s name was removed from the rolls, only to reappear in 1983. In that revision, she was listed at serial number 236 in polling station 140 with a qualifying date of January 1, 1983, months before she officially received Indian citizenship on April 30, 1983.

“In other words, Sonia Gandhi’s name entered the electoral rolls twice without meeting the basic citizenship requirement—first in 1980 as an Italian citizen, and then again in 1983, months before she legally became a citizen of India,” Malviya stated.