Ahmadabad, Nov 29: Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi was in contact with the Bangalore woman, involved in the stalk-gate controversy, as early as 2005.
A picture taken during the inauguration ceremony of 'Sharad Utsav' held in Gujarat in 2005 show Narendra Modi animatedly interacting with a woman, alleged to be the victim of stalk-gate scandal, in the presence of IAS Officer Pradeep Sharma.
The picture published in the Gulail are presented as a proof that Modi 'knew' the woman at least five years before Gujarat state machinery mounted a round the clock vigil on the her, in August 2009.
As per the affidavit filed by Sharma in SC, the woman met Modi for the first time during the inauguration ceremony of 'Sharad Utsav' held in October 2005.
The affidavit further states that Modi invited the woman to email any other suggestions she might have and provided her with his personal email address.
The woman replied to Modi and thanked him for his visit. The initial email was followed by a series of emails between the two, quotes Gulail.
IAS Officer Pradeep Sharma was the collector of Kachchh from 2003 and 2005, and it is reported that the woman communicated the details of her ongoing conversation with Gujarat Chief Minister to him.
'She had been assigned a role of organizing the reception of guests; she was provided the appropriate monetary fees in exchange for her services. Concurrently, Shri Modi and Ms. Soni had begun to exchange text messages (SMS), which she communicated to the Petitioner (Sharma). She further mentioned that she was planning to meet the Chief Minister,' quotes an excerpt of Sharma's affidavit filed in Supreme Court in May 2011.
Sharma was further assured that conversations- via text messages and e-mails- were indeed being pursued when he was witness to a face-to-face interaction between them.
Narendra Modi arrived in Bhuj from Ahmadabad in first week of October 2005 to attend the three-day-long festival.
He even stayed for a night inside one of the tents, specially erected for him.
The woman came to see Modi in the morning he was scheduled to fly back. As per the allegations of Sharma, it appeared that Modi was aware of the woman's presence and she was present in one of the tents on the night Modi was staying there.
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