Why MPs did not report to police immediately, asks Amar

New Delhi, Jul 22 (UNI) Denying any role in the cash for vote episode in which three BJP MPs were paid an advance payment of Rs one crore each for abstentions, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh today asked what prevented the MPs from reporting the matter to the police immediately.

Reacting to the allegation of Ashok Argal and two other MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagoda that they were offered Rs one crore of advance for remaining absent and would get Rs two more crore each tomorrow, Mr Singh said the MPs should also explain why those people had come with cash to Mr Argal's residence on the Ferozeshah road with cash. ''What is the proof that the money was sent by me and not Mr Advani, the Leader of the Opposition?'' he asked.

He said his residence was a public place where people could come and go and even senior BJP Leader Jaswant Singh had visited him twice. Does that mean he was carrying Mr Advani's money? he asked.

The second time when he came he wanted 'the Italy government' to be toppled and Mr Singh did confess to his attempt, Mr Amar Singh said, adding the allegation was an attack on the Congress and UPA government because the Samajwadi Party was attempting to stabilise the secular combination, a bloc BSP chief Mayawati and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat were dead against.

He also sought to know why the people who took the cash to the residence of MPs were not arrested immediately. ''Does the cash carry any signature or do they have proof about the route of travel from Bank to the MPs residence?'' he questioned.

He also recalled how he had reported to the police immediately when he had visitors wanting money to pay for fixing a judicial case. ''If Amar Singh had gone to pay money to these MPs they could have had him arrested on the spot,'' he said.

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