New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday dismissed as diversionary tactics BJP MP Maheish Girri's complaint that party vice president Rahul Gandhi had presented himself as a British citizen to float a firm in the UK which has been forwarded by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to the Ethics Committee of Parliament.

Modi government has utterly failed on the issue of national security. So, such diversionary tactics have been resorted to by BJP MPs. It is laughable. We reject it with the contempt it deserves, AICC Communication Department Chief Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

Surjewala was asked about Mahajan forwarding a Girri's complaint to the Ethics Committee headed by BJP stalwart L K Advani.

One MP had sent a complaint to me regarding this. Whenever an MP sends a complaint to the Speaker, it is referred to the committee as per rules. That particular complaint has been referred to the Ethics Committee, Mahajan said yesterday when asked about the issue.

Girri, MP from East Delhi, had some time back written to the Speaker requesting for appropriate inquiry into party colleague Subramanian Swamy's allegations that Rahul had declared himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country.

Swamy had also approached the Speaker in this regard. Reacting to Swamys allegations last month, Congress had said it was only a typographical mistake in the citizen's column. This could be a typographical error at some lower level, a Congress spokesperson had said rubbishing Swamy's claim.

The party had also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJPs Dirty Tricks Department Chairman Swamy of colluding to malign their leader. The Supreme Court had last week dismissed a PIL seeking a probe into Rahul Gandhi's citizenship.

PTI