But there are some marked parallels in at least one sex scandal each of the two leaders. When Berlusconi’s bedroom exploits hit the headlines a few months ago, an escort, Patrizia D’Addario, went public with steamy details of the Italian prime minister’s libidinous ways.

D’Addario’s expose was primarily motivated by the fact that she had not been compensated for by an award of a building project contract, a promise which Berlusconi did not keep after she spent a night at his official Rome residence.

In NDT’s case, the allegations of Radhika, a woman from Uttarakhand, who sought a mining project favour from the Andhra Pradesh governor in exchange for entertaining him with women, are as damning. She claims to have sent three women, including a nubile 18-year-old, to Raj Bhavan on NDT’s request.

If these allegations are true and the matter is investigated by a law enforcement agency, it will be amusing to know how the women were smuggled into the octogenarian governor’s mansion on Banjara Hills and other intimate and steamy details of how he consorted and cavorted with them.

The still pictures, obviously taken from the streaming video footage available with ABN Andhra Jyothi, are explicit enough and, with the seductive appeal of Youtube, there is every possibility of the entire video going public.

NDT’s statement on Friday, denying he had anything to do with the women, all stark naked, pleasing him with generous acts of their lips and limbs (among other things), was tinged by an inherent weakness. The governor’s resignation on Saturday is clear testimony to that weak, shaky and dodgy denial. Clearly, like Berlusconi, NDT is no saint, though on bed he is quite still and does appear to be soaking it all in at the twilight of his life. If Radhika is to be believed, the corpulent, 86-year-old one-time senior Congress leader’s appetite for the “good things in life” is insatiable—he would invite women in the middle of the night and also indulge in post-lunch quick sessions.

Of course, these could all be outlandish and wild allegations, but by his dangerous liaisons and act of improriety, the governor—former governor, that is—is now deeply mired in the scandal. In Berlusconi’s case, a section of the Italian population lapped up the lascivious details of his many dalliances and that did not hit his popularity ratings. It remains to be seen, once the whole NDT video goes public, whether the Indian population will pardon the indiscretions of an 86-year-old man or lap up and savour his colourful gaffes.