Facing a united Opposition attack in Parliament on Wednesday over the WikiLeaks disclosure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly denied allegations that his government paid MPs cash for votes during a crucial floor test in 2008. "None from the Congress party or from the government indulged in any unlawful activity during trust vote...nor authorised anyone to indulge in such unlawful activity," Singh said in Lok Sabha.
"We have chosen to go for what some embassy official write about us, I must warn the House that it's dangerous. Many persons referred in these cables have denied their involvement," he said.
Singh said that it was not possible for the government to confirm the veracity of the content of the embassy cables and that the panel probing the cash-for-votes case had insufficient evidence.
Reflecting on the troubled situation in the Middle East, from where India sources the bulk of its oil needs, Singh said "we have instead chosen to be exercised about what some embassy official writes about us".
"Parliament should reflect what we are doing to ourselves," he said.
Referring to the opposition furore over the WikiLeaks reports purportedly based on secret American diplomatic cables, the prime minister added that it was easy for any embassy official to create strife in India just by planting some message and ensure it was leaked to political parties.
The general uproar and constant shouting by Opposition MPs overshadowed whatever cogency there may have been in the discussion over Singh's controversial statement on the cash-for-votes scam.
Home Minister P Chaidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha that allegations that Parliament was engineered by a political party would be probed.
"The committee set up to investigate the cash-for-votes (sting) was not able to draw any conclusions. Forensic report of the tape has been received and police is investigating the forensic report. Whatever engineering has taken place, we will continue to enjoy the confidence of the people," Chidambaram said.
"There are allegations in the public domain, that it was not a sting operation to catch a government, this was a deliberate attempt to destabilize a sitting government, where a few parties were involved by identifying buyers, those who made these allegations that they have other elements of recording. While the police investigate evidences, am sure that these allegations too will be proved
Not to be outdone, Congress MPs also shouted slogans as CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj took the floor.
Swaraj made a stinging attack on Singh in the Lok Sabha telling him that as head of the government he should take responsibility instead of making others scapegoat for the omissions and commissions of his regime.
"It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise then (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then (former Telecom Minister) A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then (Suresh) Kalmadi is to blame," she said.
"'I don't know anything, I am not aware of anything, there are coalition compulsions and I am not that much guilty as I am made out to be' ...the people are fed up with such excuses. They are asking why you are the Prime Minister," she said participating in a discussion.
BJP targets PM in Rajya Sabha
BJP contested his argument that the 2009 poll victory proved nothing wrong had happened during the 2008 trust vote and alleged that UPA-I had survived because of "retail purchase of parliamentarians".
Initiating a short-duration discussion on the Prime Minister's statement on cash-for-votes, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley alleged that UPA-I was short of majority in 2008 following withdrawal of support by the Left parties which it made up by "procurement" of MPs.
Jaitley said the leaked cables sent by the US Embassy in India to Washington, first accessed by 'The Hindu' daily, are corroborative evidence which can be verified as the two countries have agreements to cooperate in criminal investigations.
He tore into Prime Minister's statement that the Parliamentary Committee which went into the cash-for-votes case found insufficient evidence of bribery, saying "criminality is determined by investigating agency and courts and not by parliamentary committees."
Quoting from parts of the report, Jaitely said the panel had not recommended closure of the case for want of sufficient evidence. The committee, he said, wanted the bribery should be probed by an investigating agency.
The report brings out that Sanjeev Saxena, an alleged representative of senior leader whose party supported UPA, was "wittingly or unwittingly a bribe giver," he said. Jaitley said a cable per se may not be an evidence but the diplomat's statement that he was shown cash chest meant to be paid to buy MPs and his conversation with the alleged representative of a senior Congress leader, is corroborative evidence.
PM evading truth: BJP
Swaraj slammed the prime minister for disregarding the KC Deo probe panel's findings.
"The publication in Hindu on March 17 was not new to us, it only became a proof against the government," said Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha.
"I challenge the PM that he should go through this report, as the report has conclusions and the committee asked for an inquiry, which never happened. Somnath Chatterjee has written in his autobiography that this needed to be inquired for further investigations. The case was registered under prevention of corruption act on March 22, 2009. PM should have brought these facts out," said Swaraj.
"The WikiLeaks report had names in its conclusion, Committee asked for an inquiry and a case was registered. PM, were you not given any of these details. Delhi police is investigating the case. CFL has verified that the tapes are not tampered. How come you being the PM unaware of all this?
"PM has to take responsibility, he is the head of the government, he cannot run away from responsibilities. If the PM does not know then why is he the PM?" said Swaraj.
Congress defends PM
Countering the Opposition contention, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Prime Minister's statement was based on facts and that an "environment of crisis" was being created on the basis WikiLeaks documents which should be given no importance.
Contending that BJP was misinterpreting facts and exaggerating things, he asked whether the Opposition party had verified the contents of the WikiLeaks documents or whether it could do so.
"Parliament has been made a prisoner after Wikileaks report in Hindu on March 17. PM gave his statement soon after on March 18. I understand that PM by mistake did not show the statement before reading it out in the Parliament," Bansal said in the Lok Sabha.
"PM said 'I wish to make it clear that nobody from the congress party indulged'. The Opposition leaders believe that their utterances are divine truths, they suffer from selective amnesia," said Bansal.
"PM said 'That committee had concluded that there was insufficient evidences to prove bribery'. Was the PM writing thesis on this report? Sushma Swaraj is giving her own interpretation of the committee report," said Pawan Kumar Bansal in Lok Sabha.
Cash-for-votes debate in LS
The government agreed to a short duration discussion on Tuesday after sustained pressure from the BJP and other parties.
Last week, the prime minister had told the Lok Sabha that no money exchanged hands during the 2008 trust vote over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
BJP Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said there was enough proof that money exchanged hands ahead of the trust vote. He is accusing the prime minister of ignoring the Lok Sabha panel report on the matter.
The government is hoping to counter the Opposition by talking about Advani's so-called double-speak on the nuke deal that also came up in another US cable revealed by WikiLeaks.
The whistleblower website confirmed a CNN-IBN sting operation that showed MPs being bought by the UPA ahead of that crucial vote.
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