PM says he’s not aware of any purchase of votes
March 18th, 2011 - 1:06 pm ICT by ANI
New Delhi, Mar 18 (ANI): Denying an allegation that lawmakers were bought during the July 22, 2008 vote of confidence in Parliament, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, today said he was not aware of any such transaction having taken place.
“I have not authorised anyone to purchase any votes. I am not aware of any purchase of votes. Certainly, I am not involved in any such things,” he said.
“People who have been named in the diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have expressed doubts over the “veracity” of them,” he added.
On Thursday, demanding the resignation of Dr. Singh, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Singh had no moral authority to lead the government
Talking to reporters here, Advani said: “The Prime Minister must take responsibility and resign…he has no moral authority to lead the government.”
The prime minister must quit forthwith,” he said, adding that in July 2008 also, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had maintained that the vote of confidence won by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was influenced by bribery.
Advani further said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s defence that the matter had ended with the 14th Lok Sabha was an “incredible” defence.
“There is no end to scandal and stinks that accompany this government,” he said.
“After this exposure, we say that this government has lost its moral right to continue for a single moment,” Advani added.
Earlier, defending Dr Singh, Mukherjee said it was not possible for the government to either confirm or deny the contents of the cables.
“I cannot either confirm this or deny the WikiLeaks revelation. The Government elected is accountable to the 15th Lok Sabha and not to the 14th Lok Sabha,” Mukherjee said.
A set of India-related diplomatic cables on the Indo-US nuclear deal released by the WikiLeaks, claims that an aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma had told a US diplomat that the party had paid crores to several lawmakers to ensure that they voted for the deal in Parliament.
In a cable dated July 17, 2008 sent to the US State Department, Charge d’Affaires Steven White wrote about a conversation that the embassy’s political counsellor had with Rajya Sabha MP Satish Sharma. (ANI)
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