Shobhan Sarkar's letter puts Modi on backfoot

Shobhan Sarkar, the seer who dreamt of a gold treasure buried under a fort in Daundiya Kheda village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Monday wrote a terse letter to BJP prime minister candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

A close aide and disciple of the seer, Om Baba, said Sarkar was hurt by the insinuations Modi made about his dream.

At a rally at Trichy in Tamil Nadu Oct 18, Modi had mocked the dream, and said that instead of digging up near monuments on the basis of a dream, the government of India should hunt for the billions of rupees in black money stashed away in Swiss banks.

Shobhan Sarkar's ashram said the seer was willing to take the BJP leader on in an open debate, at a place of his choice.

Om Baba, while speaking of the letter, also questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party's stance on the Ram Setu and Ram temple.

Apparently unprepared for the offensive from Shobhan Sarkar, Modi took to twitter and said that he still maintained that the union government should pursue the black money trail to Switzerland.

He, however, appeared to be on the backfoot, as he tweeted that millions have immense faith in Shobhan Sarkar and that he too was an admirer of the seer.

"Shobhan Sarkar ko lakhon log saalon se mante hain. Unki tapasya aur tyaag ko mera pranaam" (Millions follow Shobhan Sarkar, I humbly bow before the penance and sacrifices made by him).

Meanwhile, the digging at the site where the gold treasure is believed to be buried continued for the fourth day Monday.

Digging went on till a depth of 180 cm, an official said, adding that so far only a few utensils, pottery and a brick wall had been found.

"The whole process will take almost a month. As of now, we cannot say anything for sure," an Archaeological Survey of India official told IANS.