While Indian news organisations were afraid of speaking about Sonia Gandhi’s illness, Dean Nelson of London Telegraph first confirmed the news that Congress President is suffering from cancer. Dean reports, “Sonia Gandhi, leader of India's ruling Congress Party, is to undergo surgery in the United States, amid reports that she is suffering from cancer.
He further writes, “Sources close to Mrs Gandhi, told The Daily Telegraph she had been receiving treatment for an unspecified cancer for at least eight months”.
The Indian daily Kolkata Telegraph elaborates the story. In its report titled “At facility in Manhattan”, the newspaper writes, “Sonia Gandhi is an
Telegraph report also says that, “All the arrangements for Sonia’s surgery and treatment have been made by Pulok Chatterji, her long-time confidant who is now India’s executive director at the World Bank headquarters in Washington.”
Indian diplomatic outposts in New York and Washington have been completely shut out of Sonia’s treatment and other arrangements. This is said to be a reflection of the Gandhi family’s desire to keep the government at arm’s length from what it considers a private affair and, in part, to prevent speculation based on ill-informed leaks.
Tehelka’s Iftikhar Gilani was first to break the news of Sonia being admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The news however was pulled out of the website for reasons unknown to me.
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