Akshay Kumar Responds to Citizenship Row, Says 'Never Denied I Hold A Canadian Passport'

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has responded to the questions he has been facing about his nationality. In a Twitter post on Friday, he wrote that he is a tax-payer In India and intends to make the country ‘stronger and stronger.’

Kumar’s post says that the negativity surrounding his citizenship is unwarranted and that he does not need to prove his love for the nation. He also stated that even though he holds a Canadian passport, he has not visited the nation in past seven years.

Kumar added that he intends to contribute to nation building in every way possible and that he loved the country, no matter what people say about his citizenship.

The issue emerged when Akshay faced flak from netizens for not casting his vote when his wife, actress-turned-author Twinkle Khanna, was spotted without him at a polling booth among many other Bollywood celebrities who turned out for voting.

Then during a media interaction on the sidelines of Blank movie's special screening in Mumbai on Tuesday, Akshay was asked about how he would react to the criticism over his absence from the polling booth. Akshay dismissed the matter by simply smiling and telling the reporter, "Chaliye Beta," before walking off.

In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tagged Akshay in a tweet, asking him to encourage voting. Akshay had responded to PM's urge by saying, "true hallmark of a democracy lies in people’s participation in the electoral process. Voting has to be a superhit prem katha between our nation and its voters."

Recently, he was also in news for sitting with Modi for a ‘non-political interview.’

On the movies front, Akshay was last seen in period-war film Kesari. He will next be seen in Good News releasing on December 27. His another film Housefull 4 is slated for release this year. However, an official date has not been announced yet.

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