World | India
Furore in House as BJP MPs flash wads of cash
Say they were bribed to either abstain or vote with government.
- By Ajay Jha Chief, Correspondent
- Published: 00:03 July 24, 2008
New Delhi: Lawmakers from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party shocked the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by displaying wads of currency notes allegedly offered to them as bribes vote for the government.
Three BJP lawmakers displayed wads of currency notes alleging it was part of the Rs90 million (Dh7.9 million) each offered to them to vote for the government.
The three lawmakers were Faggan Singh Kulaste, Ashok Argal and Mahavir Bhagora. While Kulaste and Argal represent Manda and Morena constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Bhagora was elected from Salumber in Rajasthan.
The three MPs were in the list of people suspected to have been "bought over" to either vote against the government or abstain.
They placed Rs10 million each on the table of the House, causing a furore. The scenes in parliament were being watched by the nation live on television. The din lasted for several minutes before Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal adjourned the proceedings.
Walk out
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was present in the House immediately walked out, while his party chief Sonia Gandhi sat on her designated front row seat to witness the allegation that a senior leader of ally Samajwadi Party had offered the bribe.
The money in question was placed in a bag by Lok Sabha Marshals and taken away.
A private TV channel later submitted the tape to the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Rajdeep Sardesai, chief of private news channel CNN-IBN claimed that his team had recorded the bribery incident on camera in a sting operation and added that the bribe giver can easily be identified from the tapes.
Leader of Opposition Lal Krishna Advani demanded a probe into the allegation and said that the three lawmakers came to him with the money and wanted to know what to do with it. He said he instructed them to display it in the House.
"In my parliamentary career, I have never come across such a sad situation where MPs were offered money to abstain from voting [in the confidence vote]," a visibly upset Advani told reporters outside the parliament house
Interestingly, many felt the BJP had planned the drama to defame the ruling coalition and create a platform to stage a walkout since the party had been put in an uncomfortable position of opposing the nuclear deal or supporting it at its own peril.
In my career, I have never come across such a sad situation where MPs were offered money to abstain from voting ."
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