Divya Spandana's tweet revived the row over Akshay Kumar's citizenship.
Congress leader Divya Spandana on Thursday cited the example of Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in response to his allegations against former PM Rajiv Gandhi. Posting photos of Mr Kumar on board the presidential yacht INS Sumitra, she asked whether it was proper to take a "Canadian citizen" onboard a navy warship.
PM Modi "took a Canadian citizen @akshaykumar with you on-board INS Sumitra," she said in the post, tagging both, the prime minister and the actor. "Most of us have not forgotten this controversy" Ms Spandana, an actor-politician, referencing a 2016 article criticising the event.
PM Modi, at a rally in Delhi on Wednesday, had claimed that Rajiv Gandhi, father of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, used INS Viraat as his as a personal taxi for family vacations in 1987. He said that when the late PM Rajiv Gandhi came on board the aircraft carrier, his friends and Italian mother-in-law were with him. PM Modi, in his tweet, also enclosed a news story by India Today from 1988.
The Congress rebutted his allegations, quoting retired Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha, who clarified that Rajiv Gandhi was on an official visit on INS Viraat and not on a vacation. The Congress further accused PM Modi of using Air Force jets as his "own taxi", paying "as low as Rs. 744" for trips during the election.
Divya Spandana's tweet also revived the row over Akshay Kumar's citizenship which began after his "non-political" interview of PM Modi last month. Days later, when Mumbai went to polls, his wife, Twinkle Khanna voted, but he didn't. After dodging question on why he didn't vote, the 51-year-old actor admitted that he held a Canadian passport.