Charges against Sonia to be 'examined'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 11. With the voting in the Assembly elections out of the way, the Janata Party president, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, has been heard again over his allegations against the Leader of Opposition, Ms. Sonia Gandhi.

This time he has released a letter from Mr. Arun Shourie, Minister of State for Public Grievances to Mr. Ananth Kumar, Minister of Tourism and Culture.

Since a copy of the letter, dated April 30, 2001, was marked to Dr. Swamy also, he has now opted to make it public. In the letter, Mr. Shourie advises the Minister of Tourism and Culture to ``get the matter (of Dr. Swamy's complaint) examined''. Mr. Shourie also enclosed Dr. Swamy's letter to the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, alleging ``illegal export of our ancient treasures such as temple sculptures, National Museum items and precious gems''.

The thrust of the allegations against Ms. Sonia Gandhi in Dr. Swamy's letter to Mr. Advani is of ``illegal export of ancient treasures''. Dr. Swamy asserts that these allegations, ``besides being a penal offence are also a crime against the nation''.

Releasing the Shourie-Ananth Kumar communication, Dr. Swamy hopes that the Minister of Culture ``will have the matter thoroughly examined with the help of the CBI and not wobble and waffle like his Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, did during the last session of Parliament''.

In the Shourie letter released to the press by Dr. Swamy, the Vajpayee Government's intent to investigate the matter sounds more pronounced than it did in the letter of March 12, 2001 written by Ms. Vasundara Raje, Minister of State in charge of personnel, Dr. Swamy in response to his letter. Both Mr. Shourie and Mr. Ananth Kumar have a reputation to pursue partisanship to its bitter end.

The Congress has taken umbrage at Ms. Raje's letter, accusing the Vajpayee Government of a ``witch-hunt''. So worked up was the Congress over Ms. Raje's routine reply that the party kept away from the April 14 all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister. On the last day of the Budget session, Ms. Sonia Gandhi herself expressed anger at the allegations against her.

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