ELECTION EYE - BJP slams Congress over Bofors payoff

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The following is a snapshot of recent developments in India's general election campaign. (The sources are mentioned in brackets).

* Lal Krishna Advani, prime ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party, criticised Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party chief, after police asked Interpol to withdrew an arrest warrant for Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman wanted over corruption charges.

In the late 1980s, opposition parties accused the Gandhi family for its role in the Bofors guns deal, saying the Sonia Gandhi and rest of the family knew Quattrocchi personally and had favoured the Italian businessman.

The BJP said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi were behind the removal of the warrant, saying the Congress was making personal favours during its last days of governance. The Gandhi's deny the BJP's charges.

The scandal is the biggest corruption to have hit the Congress party and has resurfaced to trouble the party in the middle of the general election. In 1989, the scandal contributed to Congress's loss in the general election.

(CNN-IBN news channel)

* Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party chief, criticised the ruling communists of West Bengal for not doing enough for the rural poor, a move that could further deteriorate relations between the Congress and its former allies.

Addressing an election rally, Gandhi, said the left parties would be defeated in the general election and there was no democracy in the state. (HINDUSTAN TIMES)

* M. Karunanidhi, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, ended a fast for the rights of Tamil civilians of Sri Lanka, after its government called off combat operations against Tamil rebels.