Advani slams UPA government over Quattrocchi issue

'SC order on Modi not a setback'

BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani today slammed UPA government on the issue of removing the name of Bofors payoff scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi from the Red Corner Notice list and termed this move as the last nail in the coffin of judicial process in respect of the Bofors scandal.

"The decision to drop the name of the main accused in Bofors scandal from CBI's wanted list hints that Congress party thinks that it will not come back to power after the election", Advani said while condemning the move at a press conference today in Ahmedabad.

Hitting out at Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi on the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, Advani accused Congress of misusing government instituitions, especially CBI. "Over the past five years, CBI has been misused for political purposes", he added.

"Quattrocchi was considered close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and he was allowed to flee from India when Narasimha Rao government was in power", he said, adding, "During UPA regime, Quattrocchi's bank accounts were allowed to be defreezed and later he was allowed to go scot-free after having been arrested in Argentina".

"I hold prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi directly responsible for colluding in this conspiracy to bury the truth about Bofors", advani said.

When asked about the Supreme Court ordering a probe into the role played by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during 2002 riots, he said it was just a probe and we would abide by the order of the apex court.

"It is not a setback. The Supreme Court has directed the agency to look into it," Advani told reporters today, when asked if he saw it as a setback on the eve of the third phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections.

Changing the topic, Advani sought to turn the tables on the UPA government in connection with another Supreme Court case and said that when it came to the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) IMDT Act, the Apex court had criticised the Union government in strongest possible terms.