Refer Subba's issue to 'privileges panel': BJP

New Delhi, Mar 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party has asked Lok SabhaSpeaker Somnath Chatterjee to refer the issue of citizenship of TejpurMP Mani Kumar Subba to an ''appropriate committee'' in the light ofmedia digging out fresh evidence questioning his Indian citizenship.

BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra, in aletter to Mr Chatterjee said Article 84 of the Constitution specifiedthat to become an MP citizenship of India was a must but Mr Subba was'evading' a fair inquiry about his citizenship status.

A news channel had come out with evidence claiming the MP was actually a Nepalese.

The news report said that Mr Subba had given two different placesof birth to the 12th and 14th Lok Sabha Secretariat. In 12th Lok Sabhahe had given Tejpur, Asom as place of birth while he had shown Debgram,in Darjeeling in West Bengal for 14th Lok Sabha records. He had alsogiven two different years of birth to the Secretariat. In one NepaliMagazine, 'Ratogham', the member in an interview claimed that he wasborn in Mangolpuri in 1946, Mr Malhotra alleged.

He said Mr Subba's application to include his name in theelectoral roll was rejected by Chief Election Officer of Sikkim in 1985on the ground that a detailed investigation report by Special Branchand Vigilance Police Force of Sikkim revealed that he was a citizen ofNepal. ''Thereafter, Mr Subba had managed to become a voter in Asom. MrSubba's claims that he had passed class eight from Gandhi Vidyalaya inBordubbi in Tinsukia, Asom in 1972 but the investigation by thetelevision channel shows no such school existed in that year,'' MrMalhotra said.

The senior BJP leader said Mr Subba, according to the report, wasan 'escaped Nepali convict' Mani Raj Limbo, a resident of Ward No 8,Taplejung, Nepal and an Interpol report had confirmed the existence ofa person by this name.

The Lok Sabha has set a 'precedent' while taking cognizance ofsting operations in the cash-for-query scam and disqualified the 10 MPsinvolved following the report of Privileges Committee.

Releasing Mr Malhotra's letter BJP Deputy Leader in the RajyaSabha Sushma Swaraj said, ''BJP expected the issue to be referred toeither Ethics Committee or Privileges Committee.''

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