3 Oct : The Congress on Saturday justified the govt’s decision to seek closure of the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi saying it cannot go on endlessly.
“This (seeking closure of the case against Quattrocchi) is a right step. This cannot go on endlessly. It is not appropriate to allow the case to go on simply for putting pressure on a particular party for political reasons,” party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters at New Delhi.
His response came after the CBI sought legal burial of the Bofors pay-off case by filing a petition for withdrawal of the case in a Delhi Court which refused to pass any immediate order.
The court said any order on it could be passed only after perusing the agency’s response to an application filed by an advocate, who has challenged the move for closure of the case against the Italian businessman.
Ahmad also attacked BJP for earlier criticising the government’s decision on the case saying, “four courts of Malayasia had rejected the extradition plea of Quattrocchi as CBI could not produce enough evidences. That was, when NDA was ruling the Centre. They are unnecessarily raking up the issue now.
Congress hits back at Thackeray for ‘foreign lady’ comment. The Congress accused Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray of raking up the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi in a desperate move to garner some votes for his son.
“When he (Bal Thackeray) had to make his political career, he used to speak against South Indians living in Maharashtra. Now he is saying all this (about Gandhi’s foreign originship) to get few votes for his son,” Party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad said in New Delhi on Saturday.
The Congress leader was responding to questions about Thackeray’s remark that Congress politicians from the state are bowing before a “foreign lady”.
In an interview published in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the 83-year old Shiv Sena chief accused Congress politicians from the state of bowing before a “foreign lady”, an obvious reference to Sonia Gandhi.
He also blamed people for electing Congress-led governments again and again saying, “you know Congress is bad, but still you vote for that party”.
Attacking Thackeray for using such language, Ahmad said, “He (Thackeray) has become old. He should not say such things in this age”.