The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notice to Congress president Rahul Gandhi asking him to provide the “factual position” of his citizenship, The Hindu reported. The notice was issued based on a complaint from Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy. The BJP MP had alleged that Gandhi had declared his nationality as “British” in documents related to a United Kingdom company that he was a director in.

Gandhi has been asked to reply within a fortnight.

In the April 29 letter to Gandhi, MHA director (citizenship) BC Joshi had stated that the Ministry was in receipt of Swamy’s complaint alleging Gandhi’s directorship in Backops Limited, a company that was registered in the UK in 2003. According to The Hindu, the complaint also stated that the annual returns of the company filed on October 10, 2005, and October 31, 2006, showed Gandhi’s nationality as British. This was in addition to the application for dissolution of the company dated February 12, 2009, where Gandhi’s nationality was again declared as British.

“You are requested to intimate the factual position in the matter to this Ministry within a fortnight of the receipt of this communication,” the letter to Gandhi stated, reported The Hindu.

Reacting to MHA notice, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: “The whole of India knows that Rahul Gandhi is an Indian. People have seen him being born and grow up in India…” Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajnath Singh was quoted as saying: “When a Member of Parliament writes to any Ministry, action required on their query is taken. It is not a big development, it is a normal process.”