PM pleads ignorance on ‘cash for votes’ issue

The opposition is not impressed with the PM's denial of any knowledge or involvement in the cash for votes. The BJP had taken up the issue as soon as Parliament convened this morning.

Sushma Swaraj leader of opposition in Lok Sabha demanded that the Prime Minister made a statement on the floor of the house. In Rajya Sabha it was Arun Jaitley who led the charge.

Proceedings in both houses were disrupted leading to adjournment.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde has said that the party wants an answer from PM on WikiLeaks issue, otherwise they would not allow parliament to function.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has defended himself in the cash for votes scam. He has outrightly denied any involvement or knowledge in the alleged purchase of votes during the trust vote in Parliament in July 2008.

He said, “I have not authorized anyone to purchase any votes. I am not aware of any purchase of votes. Certainly, I am not involved in any such things.”

He added that his comments on coalition compulsion should not convey the impression that he would not strictly follow the Constitution, and that the people named in the WikiLeaks cable themselves have doubted the veracity of the claims.

The latest WikiLeaks cables have brought on Manmohan Singh the same charges he political mentor Narasimha Rao once faced.

Opposition demands answers

One, why were top congress workers sharing the government's strategy to win the trust vote with U.S diplomats?
Were these details shared because the US put the UPA under pressure to push the nuke deal through?
Why were congress politicians so keen on convincing the U.S that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were committed to passing the nuke deal?
Was there an implicit understanding with the U.S govt that the nuke deal must pass at any cost?
And finally, why was the probe into the cash for votes scam not taken to its logical conclusion?

Akali Dal raises allegations on UPA

Prime Minister's defense is running contradictory to the assault launched by the opposition including the Akali Dal. The Akali Dal has levelled allegations that its MPs were offered money to vote for the UPA during the trust vote in parliament in July 2008. This in effect means that he PM is lying.

Senior Akali leader and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has alleged, party MPs were offered 10 to 50 crores in cash for votes for the UPA government. Of its four MPs in the Lok Sabha, one had actually gone against the party line.

Prime Minister is not the only one named in the WikiLeaks who is denying the charge. Others who have been named in the leaked US cable have defended themselves.

The government has swung into action and is clearly in damage control mode.

US interference in India’s cabinet formation

The latest leaked embassy cable shows US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton being guilty of conducting a check on India's Finance Minister that teeters on espionage and interference.

US' direct interference is seen in questions such as “To which business groups is Mukherjee beholden?”
“Why was Mukherjee chosen for the finance portfolio over Montek Singh Ahluwalia?”
“How do Mukherjee and Ahluwalia get along?”
These were among the questions U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posed in a cable to the New Delhi Embassy in September 2009.

That was a few months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh settled in for a second term.

The questions are focused on India's “New Government Economic Leaders,” particularly the Finance Minister.

They seem to imply that Washington had been expecting either P. Chidambaram to return as Finance Minister or Montek Singh Ahluwalia to be elevated to that post.

Pranab Mukherjee took on the opposition's allegations with considerable force, but his defense that the 14th Lok Sabha had ended, ultimately proved quite weak.

Broad conclusions can thus be drawn.

1. Wikicables prove that the US has been actively meddling in Indian government business.
2. US government has exercised some amount of influence on the government to pick the right candidates with pro-US tilt/credentials.
3. US clearly prefers some candidates over the others for sensitive posts in government.
4. Representatives of the Congress party and others in government have had deep exchanges with US officials possibly in appointments.
5. The US was expecting Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia to be appointed FM.