Rahul Gandhi- Snoopgate story
March 19, 2015
So how does Rahul Gandhi look? The question may sound silly. Add yet another – What is the colour of his eyes? If this is not enough, then is there any clue for guessing what the colour of the Congress scion’s hair is?
Why should the Delhi police go hunting for Rahul with such details at his residence? The government says it is not to meddle with the security agencies and that it is a routine affair.
The Opposition is not amused when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informs Parliament that Rajiv Gandhi’s body had been identified from his shoes?
This does sound ominous? Isn’t there something fishy happening?
Going by Jaitley’s logic, the shoe brand that Rahul wears must also be a part of the questionnaire. But what if the Congress vice president frequently changes brands, uses coloured lenses and dyes his hair in different shades?
This all does sound freaky at a time when speculations are rife over RG’s mysterious “introspection leave” in the midst of the crucial budget session. So what is really going on?
So did two beat constables really ‘snooped’ on Rahul?
Consider that beat constables have indeed been instrumental in the fall of governments in the past. That the Chandrashekhar government had fallen in 1991 over the issue of snooping! Coincidentally at that time it involved Rahul’s father late Rajiv who simply withdrew the support to the minority Chandrashekhar government, leading to its fall, when two Haryana police constables were seen sipping tea outside his residence! Purportedly, the estranged brother of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, had informed Rajiv that the Home Minister of Haryana had put Rajiv, the former prime minister, under police surveillance.
Rahul though, doesn’t have the luxury of pulling down the government over the snoopgate this time. His party, the Congress, too, has lost its relevance to a great extent and is not even a recognised Opposition party in the Lok Sabha. Yet, can this be an excuse to snoop on him? Moreover, by calling it a “snoop” aren’t we trivialising a “snoop”?
Consider what the Congress spokesman, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, reportedly claimed that even a police officer of ASI rank too was found “roaming around and asking questions” before the two beat constables gatecrashed into RG’s residence on 12 March. “Then two officers including additional DCP Jatin Narwal came there on March 14 and asked questions about the aides of Rahul Gandhi…This has never been done for an SPG (Special Protection Group) protectee,” Singhvi charged.
These charges, of course, raise many questions such as, Why should a spying agency go upfront asking about the details of Rahul in his very office? Doesn’t it then ceases to be a secret mission, if it is at all a case of “political espionage” as alleged by the Opposition?
The Congress describes it as a “police state mentality”. It cautions even the partners of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition that the “Big brother is watching…”
And this is rather more serious an allegation than one thought. Although the government maintains that the Delhi police personnels’ visit to Rahul’s residence to collect information on him was part of the established practice of “transparent security profiling” that was used to profile 526 other VIPs, including former Prime Ministers and Sonia Gandhi, what queers the pitch is Singhvi’s claim that “Neither Smt Sonia Gandhi nor Shri Rahul Gandhi or their private secretaries ever filled up such a form… This is misinformation being spread.”
As against the Government’s claims that this exercise was going on since 1947 and that the “proforma procedure was formalised in 1957 by the Delhi Police,” the Opposition questions the very manner of conducting the exercise – why didn’t the police take a prior appointment? Or, as the National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, asked, why didn’t the Ministry of Home Affairs offer this explanation for about 500+ profiles immediately?”
Yet another aspect of the whole controversy is the outdated style of functioning of the security forces in the cyber age. Or is it just a façade?
Obviously the Opposition now has an issue in hand to rake up vigorously. After all, snoopgates have indeed haunted prime minister Narendra Modi in the past too. Remember how as the Gujarat Chief Minister then, Modi was targeted by the Opposition for allegedly using the state machinery to carry out illegal surveillance on a young woman in 2009?
Obviously the Opposition now has an issue in hand to rake up vigorously. After all, snoopgates have indeed haunted prime minister Narendra Modi in the past too. Remember how as the Gujarat Chief Minister then, Modi was targeted by the Opposition for allegedly using the state machinery to carry out illegal surveillance on a young woman in 2009?
In an ironical twist to the present controversy, Rahul himself had raked up the snoopgate in his election rallies before the last year’s general elections. His sister Priyanka too had then attacked Modi saying “leaders who indulge in wrong acts against women should be thrown out”.
Modi does seem a sitting duck for Opposition attacks over the issue of snooping. Yet one thing is for sure. The issue has indeed catapulted a down and out (and invisible) Rahul to the centre stage through snoopgate 2. As for his supporters, for them too, the colour of his hair does matter! Just add one more question though – that when is he returning from his vacation?
Modi does seem a sitting duck for Opposition attacks over the issue of snooping. Yet one thing is for sure. The issue has indeed catapulted a down and out (and invisible) Rahul to the centre stage through snoopgate 2. As for his supporters, for them too, the colour of his hair does matter! Just add one more question though – that when is he returning from his vacation?
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