07-23-2008, 01:23 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>UPA wins vote, loses trust </b>
Pioneer.com
Kumar Uttam | New Delhi
House shaken by display of bribe money; BJP MPs say Rs 3 cr offered to abstain
It was another shocking display of how money power is used to save Governments -- three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs walked into the well of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday with two bagfuls of currency notes that the Government's crisis managers had offered for them to abstain from the trust vote.Â
Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste (both from Madhya Pradesh) and Mahesh Bhagora (Rajasthan) stunned the nation by flashing wads of currency notes inside the Lok Sabha while it was debating the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The role of SP general secretary Amar Singh, party MP Reoti Raman Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel, the political secretary of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, is under the scanner and a leading news channel is said to have caught the entire episode on tape. The 'men in question' have denied the charge.
If that was not enough, <b>Bahujan Samaj Party MP Brajesh Pathak revealed in the Lok Sabha that a CBI officer dropped in at his South Avenue residence on Tuesday morning and warned him against supporting the Opposition on the confidence motion "or face dire consequences".</b> The BSP MP also showed documents that the alleged CBI officer gave to him, revealing that the Investigating Officer in the disproportionate assets case against party chief Mayawati had given her the clean chit and she would be let off in case they bailed out the Government from the crisis.
But all hell broke loose in the Lok Sabha when the three BJP MPs took out several wads of currency notes to accuse the Government of buying out MPs to win the trial of strength.
Looking at the Press gallery, the BJP members alleged that an SP leader had promised them Rs 3 crore each, of which Rs 1 crore was paid in advance. Mahesh Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste also claimed that the Government managers had attempted to "buy" them. "We were contacted on Monday and told the deal would be struck in Le Meridian, but that could not take place. Later, SP MP Reoti Raman Singh came to meet us at 12.30 am at 4 Ferozeshah Road and said 'please come with me to Amar Singh's house, where the deal would be finalised'," Kulaste said. The Ferozeshah Road house in question is occupied by Argal.
<b>"On Tuesday morning, Ahmed Patel (Congress) discussed the deal with us. Thereafter, we went with Reoti Raman Singh to Amar Singh's house, where he offered us Rs 3 crore -- Rs 1 crore each as advance -- there and then. But we refused to take the money and said it should be delivered at 4 Ferozeshah Road," Kulaste said.</b>
Mahavir Bhagora, another BJP MP who had displayed the wads in the House, claimed that a man came to the residence about 20 minutes later with two bags full of cash and put it on the table. "I asked him to open the bags to show whether the cash was real or fake. Then he took out Rs 1 crore in cash," he said. Argal added, "A man telephoned Amar Singh, who told me this money is an advance for the deal."
No sooner did these MPs "muster the courage", BJD MP Archana Nayak claimed that she was also offered cash and a party ticket by top Congress leaders to vote in favour of the UPA or abstain during the trust vote.
The revelations created a flutter in the House, forcing Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal to adjourn the house briefly. It was preceded by a heated exchange of words between the treasury and opposition benches.
Leader of the opposition LK Advani called it a "black day in the history of Parliament". He demanded that the Lok Sabha Speaker should hold a detailed investigation. "When I initiated the debate on this confidence motion on Monday, I hinted that money power was being used to influence MPs to vote for the Government. The treasury benches were quick to ask for the proof. There can be no proof more solid than what our party MPs have presented on the floor of the House," Advani told The Pioneer. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said what was needful should be done in the case.
While the opposition benches said it was unprecedented that such a shocking revelation had been made in Parliament, people on the other side claimed that it brought back the memories of AIADMK MP R Soundarajan opening a suitcase of Rs 5 lakh in 1988 and alleging that he was being bribed to change sides.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee immediately called an all-party meeting to discuss the matter, where the three BJP MPs briefed him about the incident. The Speaker asked the MPs to give in writing what they had to say.
When the House reassembled, there were noisy scenes with charged-up MPs of the opposition refusing to allow the members of the ruling alliance to speak on the confidence motion. Even the Prime Minister was not allowed to reply and he had to lay on the table of the House his speech.
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Pioneer.com
Kumar Uttam | New Delhi
House shaken by display of bribe money; BJP MPs say Rs 3 cr offered to abstain
It was another shocking display of how money power is used to save Governments -- three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs walked into the well of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday with two bagfuls of currency notes that the Government's crisis managers had offered for them to abstain from the trust vote.Â
Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste (both from Madhya Pradesh) and Mahesh Bhagora (Rajasthan) stunned the nation by flashing wads of currency notes inside the Lok Sabha while it was debating the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The role of SP general secretary Amar Singh, party MP Reoti Raman Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel, the political secretary of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, is under the scanner and a leading news channel is said to have caught the entire episode on tape. The 'men in question' have denied the charge.
If that was not enough, <b>Bahujan Samaj Party MP Brajesh Pathak revealed in the Lok Sabha that a CBI officer dropped in at his South Avenue residence on Tuesday morning and warned him against supporting the Opposition on the confidence motion "or face dire consequences".</b> The BSP MP also showed documents that the alleged CBI officer gave to him, revealing that the Investigating Officer in the disproportionate assets case against party chief Mayawati had given her the clean chit and she would be let off in case they bailed out the Government from the crisis.
But all hell broke loose in the Lok Sabha when the three BJP MPs took out several wads of currency notes to accuse the Government of buying out MPs to win the trial of strength.
Looking at the Press gallery, the BJP members alleged that an SP leader had promised them Rs 3 crore each, of which Rs 1 crore was paid in advance. Mahesh Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste also claimed that the Government managers had attempted to "buy" them. "We were contacted on Monday and told the deal would be struck in Le Meridian, but that could not take place. Later, SP MP Reoti Raman Singh came to meet us at 12.30 am at 4 Ferozeshah Road and said 'please come with me to Amar Singh's house, where the deal would be finalised'," Kulaste said. The Ferozeshah Road house in question is occupied by Argal.
<b>"On Tuesday morning, Ahmed Patel (Congress) discussed the deal with us. Thereafter, we went with Reoti Raman Singh to Amar Singh's house, where he offered us Rs 3 crore -- Rs 1 crore each as advance -- there and then. But we refused to take the money and said it should be delivered at 4 Ferozeshah Road," Kulaste said.</b>
Mahavir Bhagora, another BJP MP who had displayed the wads in the House, claimed that a man came to the residence about 20 minutes later with two bags full of cash and put it on the table. "I asked him to open the bags to show whether the cash was real or fake. Then he took out Rs 1 crore in cash," he said. Argal added, "A man telephoned Amar Singh, who told me this money is an advance for the deal."
No sooner did these MPs "muster the courage", BJD MP Archana Nayak claimed that she was also offered cash and a party ticket by top Congress leaders to vote in favour of the UPA or abstain during the trust vote.
The revelations created a flutter in the House, forcing Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal to adjourn the house briefly. It was preceded by a heated exchange of words between the treasury and opposition benches.
Leader of the opposition LK Advani called it a "black day in the history of Parliament". He demanded that the Lok Sabha Speaker should hold a detailed investigation. "When I initiated the debate on this confidence motion on Monday, I hinted that money power was being used to influence MPs to vote for the Government. The treasury benches were quick to ask for the proof. There can be no proof more solid than what our party MPs have presented on the floor of the House," Advani told The Pioneer. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said what was needful should be done in the case.
While the opposition benches said it was unprecedented that such a shocking revelation had been made in Parliament, people on the other side claimed that it brought back the memories of AIADMK MP R Soundarajan opening a suitcase of Rs 5 lakh in 1988 and alleging that he was being bribed to change sides.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee immediately called an all-party meeting to discuss the matter, where the three BJP MPs briefed him about the incident. The Speaker asked the MPs to give in writing what they had to say.
When the House reassembled, there were noisy scenes with charged-up MPs of the opposition refusing to allow the members of the ruling alliance to speak on the confidence motion. Even the Prime Minister was not allowed to reply and he had to lay on the table of the House his speech.
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