Advani asks Congress to answer Swede posers

He asked the Cong to state the facts on the questions his party has raised following the statement by Swedish police officer.

Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani on Saturday asked the Congress to state the facts on the questions his party has raised following the “sensational” statement by the Swedish police officer probing the Bofors scam of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s involvement.

“The issue was not raised by anyone in India but a Swedish police officer who has investigated the case from the beginning. It raises many questions and our party leader Arun Jaitley has asked some direct questions. I hope the Congress will answer them,” he told reporters at a rally here.

He said in view of the “revelation” by the Swedish police officer, the PM has also asked the CBI to take appropriate action on it.

Union Health Minister and Advani loyalist Sushma Swaraj kept up the line of attack at a rally in Bellary in Karnataka, where she had taken on Sonia Gandhi in the 1999 elections. She questioned Sonia’s credentials, saying they were not good enough for her to occupy the post of Prime Minister.

Raising the foreign origin issue for the umpteenth time on behalf of her party, Sushma she said Sonia applied for Indian citizenship 16 full years after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi. It was only made in 1983 when Rajiv was Indira Gandhi’s heir apparent and elections were looming, she said. “That too was done under political compulsion as Rajiv Gandhi was aspiring to become Prime Minister then.”

Dismissing the Congress allegations of the BJP nursing a “hidden agenda”, Swaraj asserted that the manifesto released by her party was open to scrutiny and had been endorsed by NDA allies.

Expressing her agreement with other political parties on the banning of opinion and exit polls, she said these often go wrong because they are “unscientific”.

On the poll scenario in Karnataka, Sushma said she did not see any pro-incumbency wave in favour of Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and claimed that the BJP would emerge victorious in the Assembly elections too. Swaraj also addressed rallies at Siruguppa, Sandur, Kudligi, Hadgalli and Hagaribommanahalli.