Image via Indiatoday.com
The Congress lashed out at Metropolitan magistrate, Gomati Manocha, for issuing summons to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, for allegedly misappropriating funds of the National Herald newspaper, saying it reflected a complete ignorance of the Congress ethos of taking collective responsibility for screwups while letting the Gandhis take all the credit for successes.
”If there was indeed a misappropriation of funds, the honourable judge ought to have issued summons to the entire party, or at the very least, Dr Manmohan Singh. Why drag our beloved Soniaji and Rahulji into this mess, yaar? Doesn’t he know that Rahulji and Soniaji are above the fray, whether it be electoral disasters, scams or abject misgovernance?” frothed a Congress spokesperson.
The Congress had toyed with the idea of having Dr Manmohan Singh take the blame for the alleged irregularities. ”He would have been the ideal candidate. Imagine how ably he could have frustrated the prosecution during interrogation,” a Congress leader opined. However, with Dr Manmohan Singh refusing to even nod his head to convey his assent or lack thereof, the grand old party has been forced to bestow that honour on AK Antony instead, overlooking other eager candidates such as Mani Shankar Aiyar. The former Defence Minister is considered an expert in writing reports absolving the Nehru-Gandhis of any responsibility for electoral debacles and his skills should come in handy in this situation as well, feel Congress leaders.
Another proposal to ape AAP leaders and have Sonia and Rahul spend a few days in jail to shore up their aam aadmi credential was immediately shot down.
Just as the Congress was firming up its legal strategy, this tweet set off panic, forcing a change in priorities:
Once they appear they will have to take bail and deposit passport
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) June 26, 2014
“Summons be damned. Now our number one priority is to not have Rahul baba’s passport confiscated. If Rahul baba cannot fly out every week to some undisclosed location and he remains confined to India, it’s going to wreak havoc with his work life balance, man. This is even worse than incarceration in Tihar!!” a top Rahul aide noted.
The Congress is now bracing out for all out war and has rolled out its heavy artillery. “Tewari , Sibal and Singhvi’s vacation requests have been cancelled. They are working on the mother of all legal defences on why Rahulji’s passport should not be confiscated,” the Rahul aide revealed.