Four months after the infamous gold hunt in Daundiya Khera village of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh earned global shame for the country, it has now emerged that it wasn't the local seer's dream that started it all.

Documents accessed by The Indian Express through RTI have revealed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Central government and the Congress top brass instead bought dreams peddled hard by superstitious Union Minister of State Charan Das Mahant which led to the excavation of the site and subsequent mockery of the country in international media.

In his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dated on October 8, 2013, Union minister Charan Das Mahant sought to draw the PM's "urgent attention" to what he said would be a "game changing scenario" for the economy.

Before writing to the PM, Mahant had also written to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

According to the news report, the MoS for agriculture argued that "shift in attitude of corporate world from the present blatant pro-Modi towards the Congress", "stronger rupee", "double digit growth" and "lower current account deficit" would be among the "likely impacts" of finding the gold.

The PMO forwarded the letter to the secretary of the Ministry of Culture. Excavation at the village began on October 18. (Read Unnao treasure hunt: Seer sees, diggers dig for gold of dreams and a grave for reason in old UP village



When circus left the town

The tired, bored and lethargic Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team members finally raised their hands on November 14 after even the second trench they had been digging did not reveal anything substantial. Read: Gold dream over, India wakes up to reason

"Every one associated with the excavation has lost interest. There is nothing except soil in the second trench," a senior ASI official told reporters.

With this came the end of a month-long gold hunt triggered by the dream of a local seer. Union Minister of State Charan Das Mahant had convinced many in the Central government to believe the seer's dream of a thousand tons of gold buried beneath a 180-year-old temple in the village.

This was certainly the second biggest news to emerge from India after the September 1995 phenomenon when statues of Ganesha allegedly "drank" milk offerings. The Unnao gold hunt was the toast of the global media for more than a month.

No head to roll

If the episode was to be reconstructed by going back step-by-step, you'd have the recipe of a perfect scam. No responsibility can be fixed. No heads can roll. Read:UP gold hunt: The peg they all hung their lies on comes off

The minister, Charan Das Mahant, whose malignant intervention led to the excavation always stood in the shadows. The ASI blamed it on the GSI whose report was later found to be tampered with. Finally, the ASI also made its exit quietly, but furtively. Read: UP gold hunt: The circus leaves town, India made a clown

While the principal Opposition BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi had questioned the gold hunt and quickly apologised to the seer, the Janata Dal (United) had lodged a police complaint against Charan Das Mahant for allegedly misusing his official position to "spread superstition". That will gather dust at least until the term of the present UPA government ends next year. Read: Unnao Gold Hunt and the Taj Mahal of Moronic Madness



