There had been quite a buzz about Sonal Shah, who was appointed to serve on US President-elect Barack Obama's official 15-member transition board, comprising individuals with significant private and public sector experience who will offer their expertise in their respective fields,chaired by John Podesta, former President Clinton's chief of staff. 40-year-old Sonal Shah,who is director for Global Development at google.org, came under public scrutinythat began with an article in Counterpunch,in which it was suggested that she had strong connections to theVHP and the RSS. This is the text of the statement issued byher. Interestingly, it does not say anything specifically about her membership of VHP-A, while the latter organisation was on record to say that Sonal Shah was a member of the organisation till recently.