In a jolt to ruling TRS in Telangana, the union ministry of home affairs on Monday submitted a document before the Telangana High Court stating that TRS MLA from Vemulawada, Chennamaneni Ramesh is not an Indian citizen but he is a German citizen.

It stated that Ramesh did not relinquish his German citizenship till date and had even travelled to Germany in December 2019 by using his German passport and made it clear that the usage of the German passport by the petitioner could be a solid evidence to prove that he still possessed the German citizenship.

Following this, the High Court, prima facie, opined that the document produced by the union government was against the MLA and asked him as to why he went to Germany on a German passport while claiming to be Indian citizen.

The court made this order while dealing with the petition filed by Chennamaneni Ramesh urging the HC to set aside the orders issued by the union home ministry declaring him as not an Indian citizen.

The ministry had also stated in its orders that Ramesh had obtained the Indian Citizenship in a fraudulent manner by submitting fictitious and false documents before the ministry.

Arguing the case before the HC, the counsel for Ramesh told the court that he had voluntarily relinquished his German citizenship very long ago. This has prompted the court to ask the petitioner if the German government had accepted his plea to relinquish its citizenship. The court has directed Ramesh to file a detailed affidavit providing information about his German citizenship status and its relinquishment. It later posted the matter to February 24, 2020 for further hearing while extending the stay on the orders of the cancellation of his citizenship by union home ministry.

The controversy over Ch Ramesh’s citizenship was going on since 2008.

He was elected as TRS MLA four times since then.