Who is Chennamaneni Ramesh, the BRS MLA in middle of citizenship row?
Chennamaneni Ramesh was found guilty of forging documents to become an Indian national and contest elections.
The Telangana High Court on Monday imposed a fine of ₹30 lakh on former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh for suppressing and misrepresenting facts in connection to his German citizenship.
Upholding the Union Home Ministry’s order revoking his Indian citizenship, the court found Chennamaneni Ramesh guilty of forging documents to become an Indian national and contest elections.
The court directed Ramesh to pay ₹25 lakh out of the ₹30 lakh fine to Congress MLA Adi Srinivas from Vemulawada, who had previously challenged Ramesh’s Indian citizenship.
The Constitution bars Indians from holding dual nationality. An individual must renounce his Indian citizenship to become national of another country. To become an Indian, a person must be present here for at least 12 months before the date of application. Non-Indians cannot contest or vote in elections.
Who is Chennamaneni Ramesh?
- Ramesh is the nephew of former Maharashtra governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao. Ramesh’s father late Ch Rajeshwar Rao was a veteran Communist leader and five-time-MLA who later defected to the Telugu Desam Party.
- Ramesh has been involved in a prolonged legal battle over his citizenship. He had been elected to the assembly four times, including in a bypoll.
- Ramesh went to Germany for employment in the early 1990s and obtained German citizenship in 1993 after surrendering his Indian passport.
- He returned to India in 2008 and applied for Indian citizenship, which was granted to him by the MHA under the Congress government. Also Read | TRS lawmaker moves HC challenging cancellation of his citizenship by MHA
- The following year, Ramesh won the Vemulawada seat as a candidate of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
- In 2010, he moved to the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) and won the subsequent by-election. He won the seat again, in 2014, in the newly-formed Telangana state, and again in 2018.
- In 2020, the politician's Indian citizenship was revoked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government.
- His citizenship was revoked on the grounds that he had not fulfilled the stipulated norms while obtaining Indian citizenship in 2009 when he was a German passport holder.
