Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Monday said that there is a 'clear legal bar' on Congress president Sonia Gandhi becoming the prime minister because of a 'reciprocity' proviso to Section 5 of the Citizenship Act.

The proviso stipulates that an Indian Citizenship, conferred under this section to an Italian, shall be subject to the same conditions and restrictions that apply to Indians, who sought Italian citizenship, he told a press conference.

In Italy, a naturalised citizen could not hold a high public office like the prime minister of the country.

"Because of the conditional reciprocal nature of Sonia Gandhi's Indian citizenship, she is disqualified to become the prime minister," he said.

He claimed to have consulted legal experts and legal officers of the country, who had concurred with his views, and has written to Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani to issue a Government Order to make this position clear.

If the Centre does not issue an order, he would consider approaching the Supreme Court.

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