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Poll Campaign : Bofors ghost looms large again

	April 12, 2004

With surprising regularity, every time at the time of elections, the Bofors issue hits the headlines. Despite many charges, no evidence has come in the open linking the family of Rajiv Gandhi, (who was the then Prime Minister) to corrupt deals. While some of the important personalities have died during the course of investigations, including Win Chadha and S.K. Bhatnagar, the courts have cleared the name of Rajiv Gandhi. Hence the timing of the “fresh revelations” has not come as a surprise, especially when it could provide a convenient handle to the BJP to hit out at the Congress.



Advani for fresh probe

The Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is busy holding his Bharat Uday Yatra (India shining journey) across the country. He reached Bihar and Jharkhand without any problem, unlike the last time when he was stopped by the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad Yadav at Samastipur. His speeches continued to target the Congress and party chief Sonia Gandhi.

The Bofors issue too came up in his speeches and he called Sonia’s “silence” on the issue intriguing. According to fresh revelations, Sonia Gandhi and controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi were among the few who knew the inside story of the Bofors gun deal.



Sonia lashes out at BJP

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of raking up the Bofors controversy deliberately before the polls. ‘’The timing of bringing up this (Bofors issue) again speaks for itself,’’ she told reporters, reacting to the BJP’s remarks on the controversy. This bogey of Bofors had been raised for the last 18 years and it was thrust on her husband, now on her very conveniently and, God knows, one day on her great grand children, Sonia remarked. She also said the BJP was deliberately raking up the issue to cover up the Vajpayee Government’s inability to solve problems facing the country, mainly problems of unemployment and those relating to farmers.

The party has criticised the Prime Minister for his suggestion that the Central Bureau of Investigation look into “fresh evidence’’ in the Bofors case and demanded an apology for what it called maligning the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. A day after Vajpayee’s remarks at a news conference, five senior Congress leaders expressed “amazement” at the “height of indiscretion committed’’ by Vajpayee vis-a-vis the news story published in a leading newspaper. The leaders, including Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh and Ahmed Patel, drew attention to a report in another newspaper claiming that it had, in fact, published five years ago the story carried now by The Asian Age. “This means that no fresh evidence has come out as suggested by the Prime Minister and, certainly, it does not call for any action on the part of the CBI if they did not act upon it in the last five years,’’ the joint statement said.

The suggestion for CBI action, they said, was a “blatant attempt at influencing the investigating agency to act in a manner that would suit him [Vajpayee] politically.”

“We strongly condemn this attempt by the Prime Minister to malign Ms. Sonia Gandhi and influence the people at the height of an election campaign. Nothing short of an apology from the Prime Minister would satisfy the nation,’’ the statement said. Earlier, another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, described the “revelations” as a familiar story. “Levelling the same insincere arguments and same insidious innuendoes is not a new pastime for a [Swedish] frustrated police officer.” The officer had given exactly the same views and the same arguments five years ago (in an interview to the Outlook magazine, dated April 6, 1998).

A day after the former Swedish police officer, Sten Lindstrom, who had investigated the Bofors-India howitzer case for 18 years, suggested the probing of “links” between the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and the Italian businessman, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Editor of The Asian Age which carried the item, M.J. Akbar, said the timing of the revelations had been chosen by the officer himself. Releasing a book, “Sonia Under Scrutiny - Issue of Foreign Origin”, a compilation of articles, Akbar said his newspaper had seven hours of taped conversation of . Lindstrom. “If he wants to see Ms. Gandhi defeated in the elections what can I do about it?” he asked. “The officer, perhaps, decided to talk to us after a deep sense of frustration must have gripped him.”

Akbar clarified that he had not joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and said that one did not have to agree on everything to agree on one thing. “No one is always right and earlier I also believed in individuals - instead of evidence - who convinced me that whatever was being said against Ms. Gandhi was not true but it is only after I gathered more evidence am I convinced about the `links.’ “

A. Surya Prakash, Editor of the book - brought out by India First Foundation - said the compilation raised the legal, constitutional, political and security implications of Ms. Gandhi becoming Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Advani has described the charges raised against Sonia Gandhi in the Bofors case as “startling” and wanted her to “answer pointed questions.” Advani commented it was a startling revelation. It concerns a police officer investigating the Bofors case who cannot be taken lightly or disregarded.

In The Asian Age expose on April 8, the Swedish policeman who led the Bofors investigation for 18 years, Sten Lindstrom, had raised six questions:

* Who introduced Quattrocchi to Bofors officials?

* What was Quattrocchi’s value proposition that led him to assure Bofors contractually that he need not be paid if the deal was not closed in their favour?

* Why did Bofors pay Ottavio Quattrocchi?

* What services did his company A.E. Services offer?

* What are the links between Quattrocchi and Sonia Gandhi?

* Who is the Gandhi trustee lawyer that Martin Ardbo met in Geneva?

Who are the persons alive today who you would say have the complete picture about the Bofors kickbacks? The Swedish police officer Sten Lindstrom says “Martin Ardbo, Ottavio Quattrocchi and Sonia Gandhi.”

Why Sonia Gandhi ? In 1997 Interpol revealed the Italian connection in the Bofors case. Lindstrom has reaffirmed in this exclusive interview that there was a link between Ottavio Quattrocchi and Sonia Gandhi over the years, and that this link had a direct bearing on the Bofors payment to Quattrocchi. This payment was made despite the fact that Quattrocchi had absolutely nothing to do with the business transaction.Lindstrom added that there was a connection between Quattrocchi and Ciaou, the parent company for A.E. Services. He said that when it was established that Quattrocchi’s company had been paid, it fitted together very nicely because “we had been told that Ciaou had the power to influence governments and so did Quattrocchi at the time”. He added, “I had heard that Quattrocchi had a connection to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, that there was a link, made evident by the fact that he was paid money for a deal in which he was never officially involved.”

Sonia Gandhi, Lindstrom said, must be questioned. “She can always deny any involvement, but I don’t know why she keeps silent. I mean it, it can’t be a coincidence that Quattrocchi gets the money in this way. There must be some connection. She can explain it, somewhere, in some way, and it will be very helpful,” he said. Lindstrom then added with a small laugh carrying the weariness of an 18-year investigation: “But I realise it must be very hard to explain. So her silence must be interpreted as guilt somewhere.” Then, looking quizzically at this reporter, he said, “I feel a little sorry for her because she has lost her husband but...” Lindstrom added, “I have never said this before.” He noted that only Sonia Gandhi, Ardbo and Quattrocchi had the key to the entire picture.