NDA to disrupt Parliament on Quattrocchi issue

New Delhi, Feb 27 (UNI) BJP MPs today decided to seek suspension of the Question Hour in Parliament, demanding clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the UPA government's ''all support'' for Italian fugitive Ottavio Quattrocchi to escape detention by Argentinian authorities.

Briefing newspersons after the customary meeting, presided over by Leader of Opposition L K Advani, BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the MPs were angry about the way the government suppressed the information about the fugitive's arrest by the Interpol during his visit to Argentina on February 6.

The BJP has already issued notices to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to suspend the Question Hour. ''We will persist vigorously in our efforts,'' he added.

He said the Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the CBI officials were aware of Quattrocchi's arrest and they willfully kept the information under wraps to save the interests of a family of Congress, undermining the interest of the nation, its Judiciary and due democratic processes.

He said the BJP would raise various issues, including price rise, national security and terrorist attacks, but the bid to help a wanted person in the Bofors kickback case by those in the Government is a serious matter, he said.

''This is nothing but insult and disrespecting a nation and its system,'' Mr Malhotra said.

Mr Malhotra said the party had taken exception to some ministers disrupting BJP leaders in Parliament and if the trend continued, the BJP will adopt ''tit for tat'' policy and disturb those ministers when they have speak in Parliament, he said.

The NDA leaders held a meeting immediately after the BJP Parliamentary Party where the leaders approved the strategy to stall Parliament.

UNI