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Budget session heralds hard times for UPA Government

	February 26, 2007

Parliament sessions are always a testing time for Governments, but they are especially difficult for coalition governments dependent upon the continued support of their constituents and allied parties. The Budget Session of Parliament, which opened with an address by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to a joint sitting of both Houses on Feb. 23, has brought ill-tidings for the Manmohan Singh Government on various fronts.



The ploy of the Congress party, the leading light of the United Progressive Alliance, to place Uttar Pradesh under President’s Rule following the Supreme Court’s recent judgement disqualifying 13 BSP MLAs, did not make much headway because of the opposition from the CPI(M)-led Left parties. The Congress was able to get lukewarm support from UPA constituents like the DMK and the NCP to its move to oust the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh, but the CPI(M) put its foot down and made it clear that imposition of President’s Rule in the State would result in a breach between the UPA and the Left which is providing crucial outside support to the Government at the Centre. Nonetheless, the Congress continued its efforts to whittle down opposition to its move, but fortunately the Election Commission’s announcement of poll dates for Uttar Pradesh took the wind out of its plan to bring the state under Central rule. It appears now that the Congress has reconciled itself to the prospect of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government continuing as an interim set up during the period leading upto the Assembly elections. It is well known that it is the writ of the Election Commission which runs in a state during the election process period.



Hardly had the Congress got over the fiasco of the ill-advised move to impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh when the ‘Q’ bomb exploded, leading to the Left parties joining the opposition BJP in decrying any move to save Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, one of the prime accused in the Bofors pay offs case. From the circumstances as have come out, it appears that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allegedly suppressed the news of the detention of the Italian businessman in Argentina for over a fortnight. The Left parties and the BJP have warned the Government against any cover up attempt.



Another event last week which gave the Opposition fodder for criticising the Manmohan Singh Government was the apparent laxity on the part of the security forces, which led to the fire-bombing of the Attari Express, the feeder to the Samjhauta Express, resulting in the death of nearly 70 passengers, most of them Pakistan citizens. The Opposition, especially the BJP, have termed the episode as symptomatic of the Government being soft on terror, apart from the ineptitude of the security set up and intelligence agencies.





Alleged ‘Q’ cover up may dent Sonia Gandhi’s image



The country was stunned when the CBI revealed on Feb. 23 that Ottavio Quattrocchi, an accused in the Bofors pay offs case, had been detained by Interpol in Argentina. He was transiting from a provincial airport to Buenos Aires when he was detained by the Argentinian authorities. What was shocking for the public was the fact that the CBI had got to know of the detention on Feb. 7, but five days later, in a case related to Quattrocchi in the Supreme Court, the agency did not even mention the fact. As Quattrocchi was detained on Feb.6, the Argentinian authorities had set March 5 as the deadline for the Indian Government making a request for the Italian businessman’s extradition to stand trial in the Bofors case.



The CBI is now sending its team to Argentina on Feb. 28 to push for Quattrocchi’s extradition. But going by past record, analysts are not very confident that they would be able to get Quattrocchi deported to India.



For one, the agency lost the extradition case in Malaysia five years ago and then gave the Italian businessman a clean chit only last year allowing his London accounts to be defrozen. Any claim it makes now will be challenged in an Argentinian court of law by Quattrocchi.



With the corruption charge in the Bofors case thrown out by the High Court in New Delhi and with the acquittal or death of all other co-accused in the case resulting in the conspiracy charge also being rendered unsustainable, what remains as a charge against Quattrocchi is merely cheating. The Red Corner Notice, incidentally, accuses him of both conspiracy and cheating.



“There should be no deliberate default by the Government this time,” former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, who was in office when the Malaysian ruling came, said. “In Malaysia, he escaped a day before we were to file our final appeal. He should be brought back to face trial.”



That the CBI wasn’t in a tearing hurry to respond to Buenos Aires is evident in the manner in which it reacted to the news of the detention.





Don’t cover up, BJP, Left warn UPA



The Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party have put the United Progressive Alliance Government on notice that it would not be allowed to get away with any cover-up attempt.



Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani accused the Government of having “suppressed” the news of the detention of the Italian accused in the Bofors payoffs case for 17 days. He posed four key questions: When did the Prime Minister come to know of the detention ? When did the CBI come to know of it? When did the UPA chairperson [Sonia Gandhi] come to know of it? What was the rationale behind “suppressing” the news for 17 days?



“Already 17 precious days, during which the CBI ought to have sent necessary papers to Argentina to secure his extradition, have been lost,” Advani said.



The BJP leader said that the manner in which Quattrocchi was allowed to escape from India, and the manner in which his two London bank accounts which had remained frozen for a number of years were unfrozen “at the behest of the Government” were pointers that “someone in the Government is keen to get him off the hook.’’



The BJP made it clear that the issue would figure prominently today, Feb. 26, when Parliament resumes its sitting, and demand a response from the Prime Minister. After a session of senior leaders at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it was decided to have a meeting with other parties of the National Democratic Alliance to chalk out a joint strategy.



The CPI (M) wanted the UPA Government to make all efforts with the Argentinian Government to ensure that Quattrocchi is extradited. In a statement, the Politburo said his detention, on the basis of an Interpol alert, provided an opportunity to bring him to India to face trial in the Bofors case.



The CPI echoed a similar view. The party’s Central Secretariat demanded that the Manmohan Singh Government move to get Quattrocchi extradited to India to face trial.



Meanwhile, an application was moved in the Supreme Court praying that the Government be directed to secure the extradition from Argentina expeditiously.





Sonia Gandhi vulnerable



With the Opposition set to raise the Quattrocchi issue in Parliament in a big way today (Feb.26), observers say that the Government may be in for a torrid time. The BJP has said that it will raise the issue while the Samajwadi Party, which has withdrawn support to the UPA Government, is sure to go all out against the Congress in view of the aborted move to dismiss the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in Uttar Pradesh.



It is the alleged 10 Janpath-Quattrocchi connection that the Opposition is likely to target. CBI’s alleged bid to keep secret the Italian businessman’s detention in Argentina will come in handy for the Opposition. While the Congress has been trying to down play 10 Janpath’s connection with the Bofors accused, Quattrocchi has not hesitated in stating his proximity to Sonia Gandhi. He said recently in an interview, “I am proud to be a friend of the Gandhis.” He said his children were of the same age as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra and the kids were close friends. The Congress, on its part, has taken the plea that the law will take its own course. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said all help will be given to the CBI in getting Quattrocchi extradited from Argentina to India.



The Quattrocchi development has come as a shot in the arm for the BJP which is already upbeat at the prospect of defeating the Congress in Punjab and Uttrakhand, as forecast by exit polls. The party’s strategy appears to be to target UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing them of trying to save Quattrocchi.



Though the final strategy to ensure a concerted opposition attack on the Government will be shaped at the NDA meeting this morning, the theme is going to be “Quattrocchi Lao, Sonia Bhagao.” This was decided at a core group meeting of the BJP on Saturday.



The opposition plans to press for a reply from the Prime Minister on how the CBI kept such important information under wraps and lost time in acting on the Interpol notice which may prove to be crucial if the Government fails to get the key Bofors accused over to India for questioning. Calling Quattrocchi “Sonia Gandhi’s gift to India”, BJP leader Arun Jaitley questioned CBI’s “sincerity” in having the Italian businessman extradited from Argentina where he has been detained. The `secrecy’ was meant to delay the process of CBI complying with legal formalities to enable his extradition,” he alleged.