Rahul meeting Q's son absolute rubbish: Cong

New Delhi, Mar 10: The Congress today dismissed as ''rubbish'' the speculation that the son of accused in the Bofors scandal Ottavio Quattrocchi had met Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra when he was here last month.

''It is rubbish. It is speculation, totally speculation,'' AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said on the 'Devil's Advocate' programme being telecast tomorrow night on CNN-IBN television channel.

He was queried if he had asked Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Vadra about their meeting with Massimo Quattrocchi at a party in Hotel Ashok last month, Mr Singh said : '' There is no need. This is speculation. I don't agree with this. They have nothing to do with it.'' He said he did not know Quattrocchi's son. Nor did he know about his whereabouts.

Asked about any possible, direct or indirect, communication or contact between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Ottavio Quattrocchi, Mr Singh said, ''I would like to say that this information is also rubbish.'' He dismissed the suggestion that the Congress Party and the UPA government were only putting up an appearance of wanting to extradite Quattrocchi, who was detained by Interpol in Argentina on February 7, but actually did not want to succeed.

In this context, he pointed out that the CBI was working independently. The Government of India never interfered in the functioning of the CBI. The extradition was in the interests of the country.

He said ''yes'' when he was asked ''Does the Congress Party and Mrs Gandhi want Quattrocchi to be extradited to India.'' Asked if the 17 day-long delay in making public the detention of Quattrocchi in Argentina had sullied the image of the government, Mr Singh said, ''certainly not. The government did not bungle at all. There was no delay. The media and the Opposition had hyped the whole issue.'' In this context, he said that the CBI did not sit over it .

Nor was it silent. It responded immediately and promptly. ''The CBI was responding to Argentina for every point, every day.'' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also came out in Rajya Sabha with specific details about the detention.

UNI

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