MLA Chennamaneni moves Telangana high court over citizenship row

HYDERABAD: Vemulavada TRS MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh on Friday approached the Telangana high court urging it to stay the order of a single judge in respect of his citizenship tussle.
The German citizenship he acquired during his stint at Germany is now being cited by his political rival Adi Srinivas to get him disqualified as a legislator on the grounds that he was not a valid Indian citizen.Though a single judge earlier directed the centre to consider Ramesh’s case in tune with the law, Ramesh is aggrieved because the judge did not say anything about the locus of his rival to raise this plea and also to file reviews at the highest level.
Citing the provisions of the Indian Citizenship Act, Ramesh said that it does not insist on a person to be a resident of India for 12 continuous months to seek citizenship. Citing his election as MLA five times, he said that the evidence he furnished to the authorities is sufficient to prove his credentials. “Rules permit authorities to deny citizenship to persons whose continuance is not conducive to a peaceful society. Applying such rules to the case of an elected representative is unfair,” he said.