UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has told the Left Front that the government had no advance knowledge of the CBI decision to allow defreezing of Ottavio Quattrocchi’s London bank accounts.Explaining the government’s position on the latest twist in the Bofors scam, Gandhi said the government was not pressurising any agency on the course of the investigation, said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechuri after his hour-long meeting with her on Tuesday. When Yechury had pointed out that the government should expedite the case, she said the case should reach a conclusion soon, because in her opinion it had dragged on for too long. Yesterday, the CPI(M) had sought an explanation from the government on why the decision to defreeze Quattrocchi’s accounts had been taken. The CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat had told The Indian Express that the party strongly objected to a person being sent to London authorising the defreezing of the accounts.During today’s meeting, Gandhi also spoke to Yechury about the protests Left had planned against US President George Bush’s visit. The CPI(M) leader pointed out that the Left had also opposed Bill Clinton’s visit when the former US President was in India.The two leaders also discussed the phone tapping saga involving Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. Gandhi told Yechury that the Congress support to the UP government would continue.
