Congress party 'bought India votes' - Wikileaks Skip to main content

Congress party 'bought India votes' - Wikileaks

News headlines of the 2008 confidence vote The report has caused uproar in parliament

Related Stories

A diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks suggests that India's ruling Congress party paid off MPs to survive a crucial vote of confidence in 2008.
It describes how an aide to senior Congress leader Satish Sharma showed a US embassy official "chests of cash" to pay off MPs ahead of a vote over a controversial nuclear deal with the US.
The government survived the vote despite substantial opposition.
Mr Sharma denies the allegation, saying he never had a political aide.
At the time of the nuclear deal the government's left-wing allies withdrew their support to protest against the controversial accord.
'Uproar' If the government had lost the vote, India could have faced early elections. A defeat would have also put the nuclear deal in doubt.
The Indian government's win in the vote by 275 votes to 256 came amid accusations of vote-buying.
Opposition MPs waved wads of money in parliament alleging they were offered bribes to abstain.
The leaks reported in The Hindu newspaper have caused uproar in parliament with the main opposition parties saying that it had "brought shame to the nation."
The allegation comes just as the government has been hit by a series of scandals over the sale of 2G telecoms licences and the appointment of an anti-corruption commissioner, who faced corruption charges himself.
The cable by US official Steven White said that the embassy employee had met Nachiketa Kapur, an aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma.
Nachiketa Kapur denies the report: "I vehemently deny these malicious allegations. There was no cash to point out to," he said.
Satish Sharma also refuted the charge and told a news channel that he did not even have an aide called Nachiketa Kapur.
"I never had and still don't have a political aide," he said.
Mr Sharma is described as a "close associate of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi [and] considered to be a very close family friend of [Congress party chief] Sonia Gandhi".
The cable says that Mr Kapur told the embassy employee that "money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government".
The cable said that that the embassy employee was shown "two chests containing cash and said that around $25m (£15.5m) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs".
The cable said that the "aide" also claimed that MPs belonging to a regional party Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) had been paid 100 million rupees ($2.5m; £1.5m) each to ensure they voted for the "right way".
RLD leader Ajit Singh has denied the charge and said that he was "opposed to the nuclear deal" and his party MPs "voted against the government".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12768908
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...
1 comment
Read more

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more