Vajpayee told me not to touch Bofors file: George

CNN-IBN Posted Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 23:01 Updated Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 23:46 New Delhi: Even as efforts to extradite Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi from Argentina continue, NDA Convener George Fernandes has dropped a bombshell. Fernandes says when he was defence minister in the Vajpayee Government, the Prime Minister had asked him to not to open the Bofors file. "Vajpayee told me not to touch the Bofors file. I do not know why he said so," says Fernandes. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad was quick to react to the statement: "I do not want to know in what context or on what basis George has made such a statement. The legal proceedings in the Bofors case were started under the NDA Government only." Fernandes' statement comes ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and at a time when Fernandes has been sidelined in the JDU. While defending Vajpayee, party joint spokesman, Prakash Javadekar, says, "The nation has full confidence in Vajpayee. It was during the rule of the NDA that the Bofors case moved ahead. I do not know what he wants to say, the nation knows what has happened." When questioned if Fernandes was to be ousted for his anti-party statement, he said, "That is a decision to be taken by the party leadership." Although the BJP is desperately trying to wash its hands off Fernandes' claim, the fact is that the NDA Government had failed to extradite Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi when he was being held in Malaysia. In fact, the statement has taken the sting off the BJP's attack on the Congress on the Bofors issue. The BJP has alleged that the UPA sided with Quattrocchi and tried to protect him. Javadekar had earlier said, "We have all the documentary evidence against Quattrocchi with us. The case must be reopened." He added, "The Congress wanted to bury the case and give Quattrocchi

a clean chit." Last week, Congress president Sonia Gandhi criticised the BJP over its conduct in Parliament over the Quattrocchi issue, saying that they had just been trying to disrupt the Budget session. The BJP on its part has reacted strongly to her criticism saying that they had expected her to at least mention Quattrocchi in her address. "Her silence on Quattroochi was an evidence of her being guilty," senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra was quoted by news agency PTI as saying. The BJP has been creating uproar in Parliament, demanding to know why the information of Quattrocchi's arrest had been suppressed for so many days. Ottavio Quattrochi is the key accused in the Rs 64 crore Bofors pay off case. He was detained by Argentinean authorities on February 6 after an Interpol red corner notice. However, the news of his detention was made public in India only on February 23.