PM brushes aside cash-for-vote slur in Parliament

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday brushed aside the allegations of buying lawmakers to save his government in 2008 as reported in a US diplomatic cable accessed by WikiLeaks, saying the Opposition is giving dignity to the unverified and unverifiable allegations.

Breaking his silence on the issue in Parliament, the Prime Minister in a political response emphatically said in the Lok Sabha that the government rejects the charges since “many of the persons referred to in those reports have stoutly denied the veracity of the content.”

Holding that the government cannot control the veracity or content of such communication, the PM said : “An issue was raised that the offence of bribery was committed in India, the government rejects that allegation absolutely.”

“The allegations of bribery were investigatged by a committee constitutied by the 14th Lok Sabha; the committee had concluded there was insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion of bribery,” he said.

He said nobody from Congress indulged in any unlawful activity.

He said in July 2008, after the vote of confidence was moved the government had won the vote with 275 for the motion and 256 votes against it.

He said after the conclusion of terms of 14th Lok Sabha, there was an election and the people voted for Congress while the Opposition charges were rejected by the people.

Flaunting numbers, the Prime Minister said the BJP-NDA group was reduced to 116 seats from 138 in the 15th Lok Sabha, while the Left parties were reduced to 24 from 59.

He said the Congress party’s number rose from 145 to 206, proving the support of the people for Congress and rejection of the charges.
“It is unfortunate that the Opposition continues to raise old charges that have beend debated, discussed and rejected by the people of India,” he said in an astute statement.

He said the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had enjoyed the confidence of people in the 14th Lok Sabha and also in the 15th Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister earlier in the morning at a conclave said that he was not aware that cash exchanged hands in 2008 to help him win a crucial trust vote as alleged by a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable.

He said that he was neither aware nor had he authorised his colleagues to buy any votes from lawmakers ahead of the confidence vote.

A U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks and showed that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre had resorted to buying votes to pass the crucial 2008 Indo-US civil nuclear deal, reports said on Thursday.

The reports sparked a ruckus in the parliament with the Opposition demanding the PM?s resignation and the Congress party claiming that the allegations were not true