Advani flays UPA on Quattrocchi and Scorpene issues

Indore, Apr 28 : Senior BJP leader L K Advani today alleged that the Centre’s ”brazen misuse” of investigative agencies and flouting legal principles to enable ”Italian fugitive” Ottavio Quattrocchi to walk away with Rs 21 crore of Bofors money, earlier frozen in a London bank, clearly demonstrated the Congress leadership’s ”neck-deep involvement” in the Bofors scam.

”The Congress President (Sonia Gandhi) has not said a word about this episode, which was condemned by not only the opposition but also by apolitical national opinion,” he told journalists during his ‘Bharat Suraksha Yatra’.

Describing the Scorpene submarine scam as a combination of two scams, Mr Advani said the first was the war room leak at Naval Headquarters and the second was the massive political payoff, allegedly over Rs 500 crore, at four per cent of the Rs 18,978 crore deal with the French company Thales.

”In a TV interview, former external affairs minister Natwar Singh criticised the recent Indo-US nuclear agreement. It vindicates the BJP’s view on this important issue. I would like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a clarification on points raised by Mr N Singh,” he added.

Mr Advani said a primary goal of the yatra, which he has undertaken with BJP President Rajnath Singh, is to educate people about the threat to national security and good governance posed by mounting corruption scandals in the UPA government