BJP to move Privilege Motion

The cash-for-votes scam is set to haunt the government once again today. The BJP is set to move a Privilege Motion against the Prime Minister.

BJP claims Dr Singh misled the House by claiming MPs were not bribed during the July 2008 trust vote, even though the Parliamentary probe committee said money was paid. BJP-led NDA will also demand a discussion in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193. This rule does not entail voting.

Sushma tweets

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is raring to go to Parliament today and move the Privilege Motion against the Prime Minister Mamohan Singh.

Refuting reports that appeared in a national daily that she and her family attended a dinner at the Prime Minister's place, Sushma writes on her Twitter account, “The only truth is that I am moving a Privilege Motion against the Prime Minister today.”

Did PM mislead house?

The opposition bases its charge on what it calls efforts by the Prime Minister to mislead the house in his reply on the cash for votes scam.

Last week, the Prime Minister had stated that the panel which had probed the bribes for vote scam in 2008 had insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion.

But  the committee probing the issue had given a clean chit to only two people - Amar Singh and Ahmed Patel. It had recommended a further investigation into the roles of three people, even laying down their specific role in the bribery episode.

Kishore Chandra Deo, one of panel  members had specifically told the media that the matter should be investigated further.

Exact point of divergence

The point on which the BJP attacks the PM boils down to this particular contradiction:

Dr Manmohan Singh says the report concluded there was insufficient evidence of bribery.

And Kishore Chand Deo who headed probe committee says he had recommended that the matter be further investigated.

Cables that got PM into trouble

Lets take a look at the Wikileaks cables that have got the Prime Minister into trouble.

These cables were sent to the US State Department by US charge d affairs Steven White, It mentions the Embassy's political counselor's visit to Congress MP Satish Sharma. The cable says that Sharma said to the US diplomat that he and others in the party were working hard to ensure that the government won the confidence vote, and that BJP and Akali Dal leaders were approached.

A second cable refers to Satish Sharma's political aide Nachiketa Kapur who allegedly revealed to a US embassy staffer that Ajit Singh's RLD had been paid Rs 10 crore  in exchange for support of four of his MPs.  This cable also alleges that Kapur showed the embassy staffer two chests containing cash adding  that Rs 50 to 60 crore was always around the house for payoffs.

Congress to hit back

Tthe Congress is not going to take the oppositions attack passively. The ruling party is also likely to move a Privilege Motion against leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj.

Their charge is that Sushma defied Speaker Meira Kumar last week and asked for clarifications from the Prime Minister after his statement.

This violates Lok Sabha rules. After a Prime Minister or minister makes a statement on opposition demand, the opposition cannot ask for a clarification. This provision is there only in the Rajya Sabha.

Assange attacks PM

Adding fuel to the fire, has been a string of statements from the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Assange has reacted to the Prime Minister's defence regarding the cables.

Assange says, “Prime Minister Singh's statements saying that when the govt does not accept the revelations on wikileaks is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.” He says “there is no doubt whatsoever that the cables are authentic. Assange says, that the defence's argument actually seems like the behaviour of the guilty and the attempt is to cover up the issue rather than addressing it fairly and frankly.”