Cash-for-votes: Amar Singh, 2 ex-MPs in Tihar jail

Mangalore Today / NDTV

New Delhi, Sept 6: Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh was arrested and has been sent to Tihar Jail today for bribing three MPs to support Dr Manmohan Singh during a trust vote in 2008. The Left and the BJP have said that because the Prime Minister benefitted from Mr Singh’s alleged swindle, the government must offer a detailed explanation.

Mr Singh’s arrest was the culmination of a series of high-drama moments today. He first skipped an appearance in court where his lawyers argued that he was unwell. The judge in the Delhi court handling the case against him was not impressed. So Mr Singh showed up in court shortly before 2 pm. There, he declared that though a kidney transplant last year still causes complications, "I have great faith in the judiciary...I came here against medical advice." Mr Singh also said, "At home, I saw news channels and was disturbed that they said I’m hiding."

 

 

The judge said she needed more proof of Mr Singh’s illness.

"What has been your (Amar Singh’s) medical history since September, October 2010?" she asked. "Whatever you have given to me is prior to September 2010." And by 4 pm, Mr Singh had been arrested and sent to judicial custody till September 19.

Mr Singh has filed another application for bail which will be heard on September 8. His lawyers plan to explain that Mr Singh is in delicate health and needs to travel aboard frequently for medical assistance. In addition to elaborate medical records, doctors who handled Mr Singh’s kidney transplant in Singapore may also testify in Delhi on his behalf.

The BJP says it’s time for Mr Singh to reveal the names of those he represented. The beneficiaries were the Prime Minister and his government, said both the Left and the BJP today, demanding that the PM now explain why Mr Singh went to such great lengths to help the UPA. "It’s the scandal of the century," said the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy. However, the Delhi Police says it has found no evidence to connect Mr Singh to leaders in the UPA. "The law will take its own course," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The cash-for-votes scam as it is known has two leading roles. On one hand, there’s Mr Singh who has been accused of bribing three BJP MPs and has been charged with abetment and criminal conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the Delhi Police, Mr Singh walked into a trap carpentered by Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was an advisor to senior BJP leader LK Advani in 2008. Mr Kulkarni, according to the police’s chargesheet, fancied himself as a whistleblower who decided to expose the UPA government’s willingness to buy support for its trust vote. So he enlisted three MPs to market themselves to potential political buyers. Mr Singh allegedly rose to the occasion. Mr Kulkarni has also been chargesheeted for "inducement" of bribes and corruption; he is currently travelling in America. 

In July 2008, the Left pulled out of the UPA government over Dr Singh’s civil nuclear deal with America. 62 MPs therefore exited the government. Dr Singh had to prove he had a majority. On July 22, hours before the trust vote, three BJP MPs arrived in the Lok Sabha brandishing wads of notes. A crore, is what they said it added upto, describing it as an advance from Mr Singh delivered through middlemen. The MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora - said the deal struck with them was for three crores each; they just had to ensure they abstained during the vote. Mr Argal is still an MP; the other two are not, and were arrested today along with Mr Singh.

The evidence against Mr Singh includes detailed phone records that establish he was in regular contact with Sanjeev Saxena, his assistant, who negotiated with the trio of BJP MPs. Mr Singh tried to deny that Mr Saxena was his aide; the police however found several letters written by Mr Singh where he referred to Mr Saxena as his assistant. The car that delivered the money to the MPs belonged to Mr Singh as well. "This is circumstantial evidence," dismissed Mr Singh’s lawyers today.



Hang MPs, MLAs taking money for voting, asking questions: Anna Hazare


Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra):  Upping the ante in the context of the cash-for-votes scam, Anna Hazare today made a strange demand - hang any MP or MLA found indulging in such practice.

 

"If any candidate takes or gives money in Vidhan Sabha or Parliament for asking questions or voting, such people should be given severe punishment, in fact according to me, they should be hanged," Hazare said, intensifying his offensive against corruption.

Hazare made these remarks shortly after high-profile politician Amar Singh was arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail in a sensational twist in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.

The 74-year-old crusader against corruption said India needed strong laws to punish the corrupt members of parliament and legislative assemblies who are accepting bribes to ask questions and to perform their duties in the house.

Hazare was talking to reporters at Padmavati temple at Ralegan Siddhi, 50 kilometres away from Ahmednagar.

About the arrest of Singh and two others, Hazare said it showed that some people with vested interests have entered our "sacred temple of democracy."

"If central government investigates the matter honestly, then it will give the real picture of the decay of values in our political systems," he said, raising a question "who is maligning the image of our parliament and parliamentary democracy?"

Hazare said he has no links with any political party or organisation like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"Everyone involved in the Jan Lokpal movement has a spirit to make India corruption and problem free."

Hazare also claimed that on August 16 - the day when he was arrested in Delhi - the central government wanted to take him to Ralegan Siddhi by plane after the court ordered his release from Tihar jail in the evening in a bid to defuse the crisis.

"But God gave me an inspiration to stay in Tihar till I got permission for fasting in Delhi for Jan Lokpal," he said, adding that these plans for defusing the satyagraha based on non-violence have created suspicions in the country about the intentions of the government.