Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07NEWDELHI1010
2007-02-28 13:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:
BOFORS SCANDAL MIDDLEMAN CAUSING TROUBLE FOR
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001010
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: BOFORS SCANDAL MIDDLEMAN CAUSING TROUBLE FOR
CONGRESS
REF: A. NEW DELHI 000973
B. NEW DELHI 000975
C. NEW DELHI 000870
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001010
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: BOFORS SCANDAL MIDDLEMAN CAUSING TROUBLE FOR
CONGRESS
REF: A. NEW DELHI 000973
B. NEW DELHI 000975
C. NEW DELHI 000870
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
1. (SBU) Summary: On February 27, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) MPs disrupted both houses of Parliament, demanding
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over alleged UPA
mishandling of Ottavio Quattrocchi's extradition from
Argentina. Quattrocchi is the main accused in the Bofors gun
payoff scandal that led to a Congress defeat in the 1989
election. The BJP is again hoping to make political capital
from an affair with connections to the Gandhi family. The
demand is purely political theatrics, however, as the BJP
knows it does not have enough votes to force the PM to
resign. In any case, the public's attention span for such an
old scandal is likely to be short. End Summary.
2. (U) Background: The Bofors Scandal was a major
corruption case that broke in the 1980s. Bofors AB, a
Swedish weapons manufacturer, was accused of paying millions
of dollars in kickbacks to many members of then Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi's government to procure a multi-billion
dollar contract for artillery pieces. The opposition accused
the Prime Minister of taking a cut of the money and the
scandal contributed to the Congress party's 1989 electoral
defeat. Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, linked in
media reports to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, was the alleged
middleman in the deal. In 2004, the Delhi High Court
downgraded the charges against the defendants from bribery to
cheating and causing wrongful loss to the government. Past
GOI attempts to extradite Quattrocchi have failed. Over the
past week, the BJP has repeatedly accused the UPA of
deliberately delaying release of information about
Quattrocchi's capture in Argentina (Interpol captured
Quattrocchi on February 6, but the news didn't break until
February 23) for political reasons.
Short Term Nuisance For Congress
--------------
3. (C) This has been a good week for the BJP. After its
election victories in Punjab and Uttarakhand (reftels A and
B),the party hoped to use the Quattrocchi arrest to put
Congress on the defensive. However, the party leadership is
well aware that the issue will have a short shelf-life. In a
February 28 meeting, BJP Lok Sabha member Dharmendra Pradhan
told PolOff and Pol FSN that the party planned to allow
presentation of the budget to proceed that day, but would
then use the Quattrocchi extradition to disrupt Parliament
for a week or two. After that, however, the BJP recognizes
that the issue will no longer resonate and the public will
grow impatient with further disruption--much as it did last
year. The public largely sees the Bofors Scandal as a dead
case, and will want Parliament to focus on more meaningful
issues, such as inflation. In addition, MP's attention will
soon be focused on the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh,
with many leaving Delhi to campaign there.
4. (C) Comment: Congress leaders have been reluctant to
give reasons for the party's previous silence about
NEW DELHI 00001010 002 OF 002
Quattrocchi's capture, claiming that the GOI was not legally
obligated to inform the public. In our estimation, the UPA
probably did not want to muddy the waters just before the
February 10-15 visit of Italian Prime Minister Prodi to India
(reftel C). (In a February 28 conversation with Poloff, the
Italian political counselor denied rumors that Quattrocchi's
son Massimo was part of that delegation, stating that he is a
private businessman with his own India connections and the
Embassy is not in contact with him.) Congress probably also
withheld release of Quattrocchio's capture until after the
hotly contested state assembly races in Uttarakhand and
Punjab. Now that the elections are over, Congress has
probably determined that the issue will quickly die, and that
Quattrocchio's extradition is highly unlikely since there is
no extradition treaty between India and Argentina. In a
February 27 meeting, Hindustan Times columnist Pankaj Vohra
reminded PolOff that no issue has been successfully used in
Indian elections more than once.
5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: BOFORS SCANDAL MIDDLEMAN CAUSING TROUBLE FOR
CONGRESS
REF: A. NEW DELHI 000973
B. NEW DELHI 000975
C. NEW DELHI 000870
Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (B,D)
1. (SBU) Summary: On February 27, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) MPs disrupted both houses of Parliament, demanding
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over alleged UPA
mishandling of Ottavio Quattrocchi's extradition from
Argentina. Quattrocchi is the main accused in the Bofors gun
payoff scandal that led to a Congress defeat in the 1989
election. The BJP is again hoping to make political capital
from an affair with connections to the Gandhi family. The
demand is purely political theatrics, however, as the BJP
knows it does not have enough votes to force the PM to
resign. In any case, the public's attention span for such an
old scandal is likely to be short. End Summary.
2. (U) Background: The Bofors Scandal was a major
corruption case that broke in the 1980s. Bofors AB, a
Swedish weapons manufacturer, was accused of paying millions
of dollars in kickbacks to many members of then Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi's government to procure a multi-billion
dollar contract for artillery pieces. The opposition accused
the Prime Minister of taking a cut of the money and the
scandal contributed to the Congress party's 1989 electoral
defeat. Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, linked in
media reports to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, was the alleged
middleman in the deal. In 2004, the Delhi High Court
downgraded the charges against the defendants from bribery to
cheating and causing wrongful loss to the government. Past
GOI attempts to extradite Quattrocchi have failed. Over the
past week, the BJP has repeatedly accused the UPA of
deliberately delaying release of information about
Quattrocchi's capture in Argentina (Interpol captured
Quattrocchi on February 6, but the news didn't break until
February 23) for political reasons.
Short Term Nuisance For Congress
--------------
3. (C) This has been a good week for the BJP. After its
election victories in Punjab and Uttarakhand (reftels A and
B),the party hoped to use the Quattrocchi arrest to put
Congress on the defensive. However, the party leadership is
well aware that the issue will have a short shelf-life. In a
February 28 meeting, BJP Lok Sabha member Dharmendra Pradhan
told PolOff and Pol FSN that the party planned to allow
presentation of the budget to proceed that day, but would
then use the Quattrocchi extradition to disrupt Parliament
for a week or two. After that, however, the BJP recognizes
that the issue will no longer resonate and the public will
grow impatient with further disruption--much as it did last
year. The public largely sees the Bofors Scandal as a dead
case, and will want Parliament to focus on more meaningful
issues, such as inflation. In addition, MP's attention will
soon be focused on the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh,
with many leaving Delhi to campaign there.
4. (C) Comment: Congress leaders have been reluctant to
give reasons for the party's previous silence about
NEW DELHI 00001010 002 OF 002
Quattrocchi's capture, claiming that the GOI was not legally
obligated to inform the public. In our estimation, the UPA
probably did not want to muddy the waters just before the
February 10-15 visit of Italian Prime Minister Prodi to India
(reftel C). (In a February 28 conversation with Poloff, the
Italian political counselor denied rumors that Quattrocchi's
son Massimo was part of that delegation, stating that he is a
private businessman with his own India connections and the
Embassy is not in contact with him.) Congress probably also
withheld release of Quattrocchio's capture until after the
hotly contested state assembly races in Uttarakhand and
Punjab. Now that the elections are over, Congress has
probably determined that the issue will quickly die, and that
Quattrocchio's extradition is highly unlikely since there is
no extradition treaty between India and Argentina. In a
February 27 meeting, Hindustan Times columnist Pankaj Vohra
reminded PolOff that no issue has been successfully used in
Indian elections more than once.
5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD