Chennai, Sept 11: Raking up the issue of her citizenship, BJP today attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for saying that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had not replied to the charges raised by her in the Parliament during the debate on the no confidence motion. "Let her reply to the charges made against her by us" H Raja, general secretary of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit told reporters.

He said that she should explain why had it taken her 15 years after her marriage with Rajiv Gandhi to obtain the Indian citizenship.

"She also owed an explanation to the nation how she could enroll as a voter in India even before becoming an Indian citizen and how could she become a technical director of Maruti technical services without becoming an Indian citizen in 1976," Raja said. As per Indian Company's Act, a foreigner could not become a director of an Indian company then, he said.

He said that the Union Enviroment Minister T R Baalu's opposition to the anti-cow slaughter bill in the Lok Sabha was "uncalled for".

Baalu, a DMK nominee in the Vajpayee cabinet, had opposed a bill cleared by the cabinet. How could a cabinet minister oppose a bill cleared by the cabinet, he asked.

Bureau Report