While barely a week is left for the by-election to the Kandhamal lok Sabha seat on October 15, there seems to be no letup in a row over the foreign nationality of BJD nominee and deceased Kandhamal MP Hemendra Chandra Singh's wife Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh. The issue is getting murkier every passing day.
Of late, the BJP has threatened that it would take Pratyusha's foreign nationality issue to court and seek cancellation of her candidature under the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.
Under Section 18 of the Act, a foreign national wedded to an Indian applying for Indian citizenship must have lived in India at least for seven years. Again on getting the Indian citizenship, he/she must shed his/her foreign citizenship and inform about it to the concerned authorities. The BJP alleged that Pratyusha had not done it and hence, she was not an Indian and consequently, her candidature for the bypoll was illegal.
It may be noted that ever since the BJD fielded Hemendra's widow as its nominee for the by-election, ostensibly to cash in on a sympathy factor, both the BJP and the Congress have targeted her on her foreign national issue. The Congress said the BJD nominated Pratyusha just to tap the sympathy votes overlooking her Nepali citizenship factor. However, despite the opposition's barbs, an unfazed BJD has so far stuck to its guns.
It is yet to be known if Pratyusha has got Indian citizenship as per due procedure or not. If there is any shred of truth in the allegation of the opposition parties and the matter goes to court, the court could cancel her nomination even if she wins the by-poll paving the way for another by-poll in Kandhamal, opined some observers here.
Meanwhile, the BJP, BJD and Congress have intensified their campaigning in various parts of the lok Sabha constituency. In their race to attract voters, they are falling back on the cine stars. While Brahmapur MP Sidhanta Mohapatra had campaigned for the BJD, the party is planning to line up a few more Odia actors like Anubhav Mohanty. Not to be left behind, the Congress has also planned to assimilate Aparajita Mohanty in the campaign, while BJP will also line up a few actors to add a dash of glamour to the electioneering.