The Home Ministry on Wednesday cancelled the citizenship of Telangana MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh, saying he was a German national and had not fulfilled the required norms while obtaining his Indian citizenship in 2009, the Hindustan Times reported.
“I forfeited my German citizenship while obtaining the Indian one as neither country has a dual citizenship system,” Chennamaneni told the newspaper. “If my Indian citizenship is cancelled, where will I go?”
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader has 30 days to appeal to the ministry for a review. If his plea is turned down, Chennamaneni will be disqualified as an MLA.
His citizenship came under scrutiny when his political rival, the Congress’ Adi Srinivas, filed a complaint, after which a Hyderabad High Court order set aside his election as MLA. Chennamaneni then challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which asked the Home Ministry to submit a report, The Times of India reported.
Chennamaneni is also the nephew of Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao. He was born in India but gave up citizenship after moving to Germany in 1993. He reapplied for it in 2008 as he wanted to contest elections in India.
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