The debate on the trust vote took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when Ashok Argal, MP from Morena, Faggan Singh Kulaste, MP from Mandla, and Mahavir Bhagora, MP from Salumber in Rajasthan waved wads of notes bringing proceedings to a halt. ( Watch )
BJP’s deputy leader V K Malhotra began to address the chair, then occupied by deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, but was immediately drowned out by the shouts of his party MPs who rushed into the well.
For more than a few moments, no one seemed to know what was happening. The sound was deafening as Argal, Kulaste and Bhagora kept gesticulating, their words completely drowned out. Gesturing to the media gallery, some BJP MPs held up three fingers, some others shouted "crore, crore." What was it? Three crore for one MP, or one crore for three? The confusion was compounded by the milling crowd, with Congress MPs also rushing to the well to take a closer look at the wads.
"Whose is it?" they shouted. "Take it back," they added. BJP MPs seemed to say that cash came from the Congress. Up front were Pravin Rashtrapal and Lal Singh.
The cash-on-table was a first for Lok Sabha. In the current House, MPs have been disqualified for accepting bribes for favours, but a reverse sting was clearly a novelty. Usually at the receiving end, MPs have been more likely to be caught with their hands in the cookie jar. But as about 100-odd MPs pulled and pushed, Argal dipped into his bag and produced more bundles of Rs 1,000 notes, waving them around for good measure.
The word spread like lightning. Mediapersons who had stepped out for a cup of tea outside the Lok Sabha gallery came running in. Within minutes, media stand was so full that the watch and ward staff had to swarn journalists away from the thin bannister that overhangs the Speaker’s chair and a part of the House. Everyone wanted to take a look at the money.
A couple of BJP MPs chucked a band which held one of the bundles of notes. It was eagerly caught and was immediately subjected to close scrutiny. Meanwhile, the packed visitors, Rajya Sabha and Speaker’s galleries were devouring the action. DMK’s Kanimozhi strained forward, as did industrialist and Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Bajaj. A couple of chief ministers, suspected to be directing "poaching" operations, were also hanging around at the back of the Speaker’s gallery.
The sudden appearance of Argal and Co. took the Congress’s front bench by surprise. Initially, there was incomprehension which then gave way to an understanding of what was being alleged. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi sat quite still expect for rapidly blinking her eyes. In the next bench, which he shares with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee stared grimly at the scene before him.
There was little that could be done except to adjourn the House. The meeting of leaders that followed saw a decision being taken to cut short the debate and proceed with the PM’s reply and the vote. In the meantime, the channel that had recorded the sting deposited the tapes with the Speaker’s office.The Speaker will take a view himself or perhaps refer the matter to the privileges panel.
Argal, MP from Morena, had been pumping himself for the moment ever since he stepped into the House with cash in his bag. His neighbour, BJP MP from Rajgarh Laxman Singh, knew what was afoot and as the minutes began to tick by, he urged Argal on by urgently whispering to him.
As soon as Argal reached the well, he was joined by Faggan Singh Kulaste, MP from Mandla, and Mahavir Bhagora, MP from Salumber in Rajasthan.
On Tuesday morning, Argal and Kulaste reached Amar Singh’s residence at 27, Lodhi Estate. BJP sources alleged Amar Singh told the BJP MPs that the UPA already had the necessary number of MPs to win the vote. So, he was not in a position to give them too much money. Still, he was prepared to give them Rs 3 crore each for abstaining from voting.
To seal the deal by building greater confidence in the BJP MPs, the BJP MPs claim Amar Singh got them to speak to someone on phone who he said was Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, Ahmad Patel. The MPs claim they played along and agreed to the deal. But they pointed out that with television crew deployed 24x7 outside Amar Singh’s residence, it was not possible to carry out wads of notes. Amar Singh is claimed to have offered to have the money delivered.
Soon, Sanjeev Saxena, Amar Singh’s personal aide, went to Argal’s residence with a bag. This visit too is said to be have been recorded on camera, which also captured Saxena taking out wads of currency notes. The BJP MPs claim Saxena gave them Rs 1 crore as "token money" and told them that the remaining Rs 8 crore would be delivered after they had abstained in the trust vote.
In the footage which is now with the Speaker, Saxena is is also shown as giving the phone to Argal to speak with somebody whom the BJP MP later identified as Amar Singh.
The three BJP MPs surprised everyone when they displayed bundles of currency notes in Parliament and accused Samajwadi Party MP, Reoti Raman Singh, and SP general secretary, Amar Singh, of striking a deal with them to abstain from voting.
Here’s what the MPs described the events: Kulaste: "We (Kulaste, Argal and Bhagora) were contacted on Monday night and told that a deal would be struck in Le Meridian hotel. But that couldn’t happen. Later, Reoti Raman Singh came to meet us at the house, 4, Ferozeshah Road, occupied by Ashok Argal, and said, ’Come with me to Amar Singh’s house where the deal would be finalized’.
"On Tuesday morning, we discussed the deal with Ahmed Patel. Thereafter, at 8am, we went with Reoti Raman Singh to Amar Singh’s house where he offered us Rs 3 crore — Rs 1 crore each as advance — there. But, we refused to take the money and said it should be delivered at 4, Ferozeshah Road.
"After some time, a person came to the residence with two bags full of cash and put it on the table. I asked him to open the bags to show us whether the cash was real or fake. Then he took out Rs 1 crore in cash."
Argal: "On Monday night, SP MP Revati Raman Singh came to my house (4, Ferozeshah Road) and offered me the money and asked me to go to Amar Singh’s house to finalize the deal for abstaining from voting. When he asked us where the money could be sent? I said 4, Ferozeshah Road."
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