Who is Mr ‘Q’? Arun Jaitley counter Q on Rahul Gandhi's 'AA' in Lok Sabha over Rafale debate
As the fresh debate on Rafale deal have started after Congress claimed BJP Goa minister and CM Manohar Parrikar has Rafale deal files under his bed. In a counter attack to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Rafale deal in Lok Sabha, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley countered it with AugustaWestland, National Herald and Bofors scam. Attacking Rahul Gandhi and Congress Arun Jaitley also stated that When he was young, he was playing in the lap of a certain 'Q' (Quattrocchi).
However, the moment Jaitley called Mr Q in the parliament, it hit out the new question of who is Mr ‘Q’ and what connection he has with Rahul Gandhi and Congress. So here is the answer:
Who is Q?
Arun Jaitley referred Ottavio Quattrocchi as Q in the Lok Sabha. Ottavio Quattrocchi is an Italian businessman. Quattrocchi was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal.
As per media reports, Quattrocchi role in the scandal and his closeness to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his Italian wife Sonia Gandhi is said to have a contribution in Congress defeat in 1989 elections.
In 1999, CBI named Quattrocchi in a charge sheet as the conduit for the Bofors bribe. In June 2003 the case strengthened when Interpol revealed two bank accounts of Quattrocchi and his wife Maria in London, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million, a "curiously large savings for a salaried executive.” However, those accounts were released by India's law ministry in 2006 without the consent of the CBI.
Quattrocchi and Rahul Gandhi connection:
In mid-1960s Quattrocchi came to India as the representative of Italian oil and gas firm Eni. Quattrocchi family came close to Gandhi family due to his connection with Sonia Gandhi. According to Ashok Malik notes in The Pioneer, “Their children grew up together,” he also added, based on this friendship, Quattrocchi had become so influential at the office of the Prime Minister "that bureaucrats used to stand up when Quattrocchi visited them.
Ottavio Quattrocchi died from a heart attack on 13 July 2013 in Milan, Italy
First published: 2 January 2019, 16:57 IST