Post News Network
Cuttack, Feb 14: Kandhamal MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh has informed the Orissa High Court that she is an Indian and requested the court to dismiss petitions questioning her nationality.
A written statement of the BJD Lok Sabha MP was filed Friday in response to a notice issued by the High Court last month pertaining to an election petition filed by BJP leader Rudra Madhav Ray.
Ray, who had lost to Singh in October 2014 by-election, had challenged the BJD leader’s election stating that she disqualifies to be a member of Parliament as she is a Nepalese and yet to accept Indian citizenship. Singh claimed that she is an Indian born to a Nepalese father and Indian mother. She said she was born in Ranchi in 1971 when her parents were staying there for a brief period.
In another application to the HC, Singh has urged the court to dismiss Ray’s petition as it lacks merit. Ray’s counsel Gopal Agarwal sought to file a rejoinder following which the court adjourned the matter to March 4.
