Targeting the Congress over the Bofors scam, the BJP on Tuesday alleged that on the instructions of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, during the UPA tenure, accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the alleged middleman in the Bofors deal, were unfrozen.
The scam pertains to allegations of a Rs 64-crore bribe in a Rs 1,437-crore deal with Swedish firm Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm field howitzers, which played a significant role in India’s victory during the Kargil War.
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Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here over the issue, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman, played a central role in the Bofors scandal. He (Quattrocchi) maintained a close relationship with then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi (Congress leader), and openly boasted that he could secure government contracts for companies.”
“Quattrocchi had access to classified government files on major defence deals, even before the Indian PM. During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, Quattrocchi would make changes to favour specific companies and secure contracts, with Rajiv Gandhi facilitating these alterations,” Bhatia said.
The BJP national spokesperson demanded the resignation of Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi till they make a full disclosure of their family’s relationship with the Quattrocchi family.
Bhatia claimed that the Ambassador of India to Italy between 1984-1988 had made a statement that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was the kingpin facilitator, and he had very close relations with Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
“…Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should resign from their position and post till they make a full disclosure of their family’s relationship with the Quattrocchi family. This is the least they can do for the citizenry of the country… The ambassador of India to Italy between 1984-1988 has made a statement that (former PM) Rajiv Gandhi was the kingpin facilitator, and he had very close relations with (businessman) Ottavio Quattrocchi,” Bhatia said.
“Sonia Gandhi must provide full disclosure regarding her family’s relationship with the Quattrocchi family. She does not have the right to remain an MP until then. The Quattrocchi and Gandhi families are like the base and cheese of a pizza—one incomplete without the other,” he said.
“On the instructions of Sonia Gandhi, during the UPA tenure, Quattrocchi’s accounts were unfrozen. The Congress government allowed him to escape, as uncomfortable facts about Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi’s involvement began to surface,” the BJP national spokesperson said.
“The then CAG stated that the evaluation of the competing guns was seriously flawed,” he added.
The CBI registered the case in 1990, three years after a Swedish radio channel alleged that Bofors paid bribes to Indian politicians and defence officials to clinch the deal. The allegations created a big scandal for the Rajiv Gandhi government and have been used by rival parties to target the Congress.
