Left point on Sonia in Sabarimala gold row upsets Rahul Gandhi

WITH the controversy over the alleged ‘Sabarimala gold theft’ intensifying, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is learnt to be ‘deeply upset’ with the party’s Kerala leaders over the manner in which the issue was handled, particularly after Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson and his mother Sonia Gandhi's name figured in the political sparring.

- PREETHA NAIR @New Delhi

According to sources, Rahul felt that sections of the state Congress leadership adopted a shortsighted approach in pursuing the controversy, allowing the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF to drag his mother’s name and sharpen its counteroffensive.

The political slugfest intensified after photographs surfaced purportedly showing Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case, along with Sonia Gandhi and Congress MPs Adoor Prakash and Anto Antony. The CPI(M) and the Kerala government seized on the images to allege links between the Congress leadership and the accused, a charge the Congress dismissed it as a smear campaign.