Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Saturday said by questioning the Indianness of those who chose this land over Pakistan after the Partition, the Congress party has insulted lakhs of people who sacrificed everything to retain their status as Indians.

"Congress leaders have been making [this] incredible claim that if Sonia Gandhi is suspect because she was born in Italy, I too should be suspect because I was born in Karachi, now in Pakistan. By questioning me, Congress leaders are maligning lakhs of Punjabis and Bengalis who moved to India to remain with India," he told reporters in Jaipur.

"I was born in Karachi and lived the first 20 years of my life in that city which was a part of India until 1947. I came away when it became a part of Pakistan," he said.

Advani said Indian nationality of all those who came away from the newly created Pakistan was recognised by the Constitution.