In this drawn out season of conspiracies, anything out of the ordinary will set tongues wagging
In this drawn out season of conspiracies, anything out of the ordinary will set tongues wagging. So, Dilli's political circles began buzzing when Pranab-da announced that his office had been bugged and that he had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inquire into the alleged security breach.
Clearly there is more than meets the eye in the mystery of the chewing gum, which was 'planted' in Pranab-da's room and in some other strategic locations in his North Block office.
Pranab-da, of course, lost no time in 'officially' blowing the 'all-clear', but Dilli refuses to turn the page after the genie has escaped... if that wasn't actually his original intention. Questions inevitably linger and everyone seems to be asking them.
On the face of it, there can be any number of suspects who may wish to snoop on the goings-on at the finance ministry, rising murmurs seem to suggest that this episode has a political colouring and should therefore be seen in that light; and not mere economic 'intelligence gathering' by interested corporates or others with a stake in the ministry's functioning. They wouldn't dare, is the answer the smart set give.
Certainly there is enough traction in the belief that tensions within the ruling party are beginning to surface at an increasing rate. Meanwhile, an inquiry has been ordered but what it will find is anybody guess, since the bugs were never found. Only the remnants of the 'chewing gum'-like adhesive, like the grin of the Cheshire cat, remain to tell the tale.
Meanwhile, though nobody is willing to detail this, there are suspicions that perhaps at least one other Cabinet minister may also have been the victim of some kind of bugging. It doesn't matter whether it's happened.
The fact that rumours of this kind can swirl around the capital, is a sign of the times. Enough cause for there to be significant 'gum' on this issue.
