Sonia Gandhi caught on camera ‘holidaying’ in Switzerland

 By Arun Maithani

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. 

 http://newsthatmattersnot.com/2011/09/sonia-gandhi-caught-on-camera-holidaying-in-switzerland.html

Sonia Gandhi - 'Holy' only in Indian media, not so abroad? : IBTL

 

A neutral observer of Indian media could soon catch up the partisan attitude that our media takes while extending the 'holy cow' treatment to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Despite an appeal at the Supreme Court and question having been raised in Rajya Sabha on Rajiv Gandhi's Swiss account, Indian media is tight-lipped on the issue. Of course, it's the same media that made a storm of corruption cases of other political leaders across party lines, but when it's about the top family, media is muted. Certain BJP supporters even complain the mainstream media to have become Congress mouthpiece which is substantiated by the differential treatment meted out to Yeddyurappa of BJP and other former CMs of Karnataka, while their offence was the same. But, let's not accuse our not-so-sacred journalist fraternity of being partisan between parties, however, the silence of Indian media on issues relating to Sonia Gandhi is in contrast to how the foreign media reacted to it, and quite early.

The Huffingston post, a leading US daily, published an analysis of corruption charges against Sonia Gandhi as early as in April 2011. It titled its piece as "World's #9 Most Powerful Person Now Accused of Corruption -- Will She Fall?" The analysis raises interesting points, which our media is too shy to raise, even now, when there's a public upsurge against corruption, for reasons, best known to it.

Excerpts from the article are given below, for our readers.

Sonia Gandhi has one of the most remarkable life stories in international politics. Born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino into a family of modest means in rural Italy, she didn't even get a chance to complete high school before heading to the UK for work. There she met Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She eventually married him and the young family moved in to Indira Gandhi's New Delhi's home, putting her literally in the heart of Indian politics. However there have been growing, persistent murmurs about questionable business deals and inexplicable exponential jumps in the personal wealth of her and her family.

In 1995 when M. D. Nalapat, then Resident Editor (Delhi) of the world's largest English language newspaper, the Times of India, began a groundbreaking series of articles about Sonia. The series said that her desire for power wasn't simply altruistic and that the wealth not only of her, but of her Italian relatives, rose stratospherically after Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1984. While the facts in the article were never refuted, Nalapat was forced out of journalism in 1998.

Part of the genius of Sonia Gandhi is her ability to present herself as a helpless victim, convincing even her political rivals not to fear her as she is fatally flawed. In 1998, India was being led by BJP Prime Minister Vajpayee. When Nalapat spoke with him about Sonia, he was bluntly told to lay off, as, "so long as a white Christian lady is head of the Congress Party, I [Vajpayee] and my party will always be in power". Vajpayee and his party lost power to Sonia's Congress in 2004.

Read the full article on Huffingston post here - World's #9 Most Powerful Person Now Accused of Corruption -- Will She Fall?

 http://www.ibtl.in/news/international/1669/sonia-gandhi----holy--only-in-indian-media--not-so-abroad--:-ibtl