No conclusive evidence of bribery in alleged cash for vote issue: PM

Rubbishing the opposition charges, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated that none from the Congress party or the government indulged in any unlawful act to win the trust vote.

Turning the tables on the Opposition, the government on Wednesday charged the BJP with hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the UPA government during July 2008 trust vote. Replying to a short duration debate in both Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that there is no conclusive evidence of bribery in the alleged cash for votes issue. Rubbishing the opposition charges, he reiterated that none from the Congress party or the government indulged in any unlawful act to win the trust vote. He said, the parliamentary panel which probed the matter recommended further investigation by an appropriate agency and the Delhi police is seized of the matter. Justifying his earlier statement on the issue on 18th of March, Prime Minister quoted from the ruling given by the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee that the matter needs to be further probed as the allegation of bribery is unconvincing. Dr. Singh cautioned the Members not to tread the dangerous path of relying on purported diplomatic cables on future management of country. He said attempts may be made by any diplomatic mission to plant a message and to leak it to create discord between government and opposition. Dr. Singh said since 2004 the opposition had never reconciled to the verdict given by the people against them and is continuously targeting him. He lamented that when the country should have debated serious issues like energy security in the wake of middle east crisis, the opposition is frittering away precious time to dwell on trivial matters. He said that the government is concerned over the crisis in the region as 70 per cent of the oil supplies come to India from there, besides six million Indians living in the region. Leading the charge against the opposition in the Lok Sabha HRD Minister Kapil Sibal alleged that it has been denigrating the Parliament and constitutional institutions. He alleged that BJP was behind the sting operation to destablise the sitting government. Challenging the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that investigation in the cash for vote issue will be completed shortly. He said that fresh allegations about the involvement of certain entities will also be taken into account by the crime branch of Delhi police which is still examining the veracity of sting operation tapes submitted by forensic laboratory. He said the House that there is no independent journalistic exercise in the form of a sting operation but a deliberate attempt was made by the BJP to destabilise the government. Earlier, launching a scathing attack on the government, the Opposition BJP demanded a CBI probe in the alleged cash for vote scam. Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj also called for filing fresh FIRs against those named by the parliamentary panel in the case. Echoing similar sentiments the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley charged the government with making attempts to cover up the issue. Initiating the debate in the Upper House, he said this is an issue of political corruption which can neither be under-estimated nor under-stated. He demanded that the matter must be brought to its logical conclusion. The debate on the subject was initiated by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta in the Lok Sabha who asked the government to come clean on the issue by concluding the ongoing probe. Several members from the treasury and opposition benches participated in the debate in both the Houses. NDA members later staged a walk out in Lok Sabha after Prime Minister's reply on cash-for-vote scam. (NewsonAIR)