Over 10,000 from Karnataka surrendered passports issued by Government of India

Over 10,000 people from Karnataka surrendered their passports, issued by the Government of India, between 2014 and 2022, the Ministry of External Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Altogether 225,620 people renounced their citizenship of India in 2022, registering a steep rise from 129,328 in 2014 when Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister after the Congress-led United Progressive alliance was voted out of power making way for a BJP-led government.

While 60,414 people from Delhi surrendered the passports issued by the Government of India, 28,117 from Punjab, 22,300 from Gujarat, 18,610 in Goa and 17,171 from Maharashtra did so between 2014 and 2022, V Muraleedharan, the minister of state for external affairs, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question asked by Sushil Kumar Modi of the ruling BJP itself.

In Kerala, the minister informed, altogether 16,247 Indians surrendered the passports issued to them, while 14,046 did so in Tamil Nadu and 10,245 in Karnataka.

While only five Indians surrendered their passports at the embassy and consulates of India in the United States in 2019, 8048 did so in 2022. Similarly, while only 28 Indians surrendered their passports in India’s diplomatic and consular missions in Canada in 2019, the number went up to 6507 in 2022.