At a time when the Congress party is in the throes of clamour and criticism, its President Sonia Gandhi who was supposed to be in the USA for a surgery—was caught on camera, holidaying in Switzerland, by an Indian couple honeymooning there. Mr. and Mrs. Zerihwala who talked to us on phone, mailed us two videos and three pictures of Sonia Gandhi—in a train with lush green mountains in the background.
Little did the innocuous Zerihwalas know about the impact their clicks were going to have. As soon as the news of Mrs. Gandhi being in Switzerland broke out, speculations came pouring from everywhere in the country and abroad. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told our reporters, “Mrs. Gandhi was in Switzerland to change the account details of her family, in the Swiss banks. She has now changed the names of all the account holders to some Kisan Baburao Hazare… This was going to be the next big revelation on WikiLeaks, but Zerihwala blew the fun. I am talking to my legal advisers about suing the Zerihwalas, whoever they are.” When we talked to our sources in Union Bank of Switzerland, they confirmed that Mrs. Gandhi did visit the bank a few days ago. This revelation has no doubt put the Congress President in an untenable position. It seems that for the Congress, which is already under immense pressure following a number of corruption cases against its ministers, the hard times have just begun.
Mr. Kamlesh Zerihwala told us on phone, “Hi I am Cumless.. from Gujaraat.. I came haere for honeey moon with Mari wife, who is vaery byoo tea fool.. We saw Missees Gandhi on Interlaken Ost Staetion.. We asked her for autograph but she hastily boarded the Lauterbrunnen-bound tarain without saeying any thing.” Mr. and Mrs. Zerihwala who had planned a scenic train ride to Lauterbrunnen for the day, also boarded the train but didn’t approach Mrs. Gandhi again, more out of fear than hesitation. But they made sure they get some ‘secret’ photos of her, as a souvenir of their honeymoon.
Experts believe that with the pressure on the Government mounting every single second to disclose the names of Swiss bank account holders, Sonia Gandhi must have thought of changing the account holders’ names as an inevitable, yet wise decision. There is no other reason that explains her lying to the nation about a foreign trip. What’s more surprising is that none of the Opposition parties seem to be interested in this development. The Opposition issued a joint statement in the Parliament stating that there could be many reasons for a change of plan and the nation should not make such a fuss about it. DMK leader M. Karunanidhi went to the extent of saying that he would appeal to the house to ‘impeach’ the Zerihwalas on returning to India, for intruding the private space of an individual.”
The famous civil society has asked the Government for a CBI inquiry into the matter. The Government however maintained that they have much more things at hand, “We have to build the nation; things like these are secondary,” said Shri Manish Tiwari at a press conference. Leader of the opposition Smt. Sushma Swaraj also ducked the question by saying she concurs with the joint statement that was issued in the Parliament. She also said, “The Parliament is supreme in a democracy. The Media and the Nation should respect its authority. It’s the duty of every Indian to respect the Parliament’s decision and observations. I won’t go into the details of discussion we have had, as I have a dance engagement to honour.”
This sort of silence or rather support shown by the political class, shows that there is a confluence of interest, if not complicity itself. If things are indeed as grim and sordid as they appear at present, we are sorry to say but many a man will starve to death—but only a few willingly.
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