BJP, Left lash out at PM for letting off Quattrocchi

New Delhi: The withdrawal of the red corner notice on Ottavio Quattrocchi has turned the Bharatiya Janata Party red. Senior leader Arun Jaitley lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that once the BJP is in power, it would probe all the cases of the present Government with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Q debate may not have become an electoral issue but there is enough indication that Bofors artillery will continue to pound the Indian political scene even after the polls are over. Though the Prime Minister has called the entire incident as an embarrassment for the Government, the BJP is in no mood to let the Italian businessmen go away easily. “The Prime Minister’s defence of Ottavio Quattrocchi does a lot of damage to the institution of the Prime Minister itself,” says Jaitley. “I think if we come to power, we will not only look into this but I guess for the past five years there have been many cases where the CBI has colluded with the accused. Any fair government would look into these cases,” he adds. Even the Left said it was amazed that Manmohan Singh was handing the alleged middleman a ticket to freedom. “It is shocking to see how the Prime Minister is defending Quattrochhi,” says Left leader Brinda Karat. It doesn't seem that the last word in the Bofors saga has been said. The Bofors gun has enough ammunition left to fuel more political face-offs in the future.