UPA 'repackaged' tapes of failed sting : BJP

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) The BJP today asserted that the ambit of ''cash for vote scam'' was no longer confined to Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh but has extended to the two Union Ministers who had lent their name to ''repackage'' the audio sting tapes of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley without taking the names of Union Ministers Ramvilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad, in whose presence the audio tapes were released, said it was now up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to decide how long he could allow a section of his cabinet to indulge in lending their names to 'fake stings'.

The UPA after its ''failed sting'' was now trying to repackage the audio tapes, he alleged.

Stating that the BJP had now provided one more piece to ''evidence'' to prove that Mr Singh's aide Sanjeev Saxena was working for him as the 'basic issue' who carried the money for the three BJP MPs on July 22.

He said the BJP had provided electronic and telephonic evidence in support of the claim of the three MPs.

When he was reminded that Mr Singh had claimed that Mr Saxena had left him on July 20, Mr Jaitley remarked Mr Saxena may be unavailable to the world but was available to carry out Mr Amar Singh's duties like informing the media about the press conferences, paying the MPs on the July 22 morning and to appear in the ''fake sting operations'' thereafter.

To the claim of Mr Singh that he had never seen Mr Ashok Argal, the BJP MP, Mr Jaitley said the cameras of the channel had captured the entry and exit of the two BJP MPs into Mr Singh's residence and the tapes were before the Parliamentary Panel.

Asked if the BJP would take the issue to court, Mr Jaitley said the fight was now at the ''political plank'' and the party would take all appropriate steps that were necessary. But all evidences should come up before the Parliamentary Panel which was probing the issue.

Mr Jaitley, himself a leading Supreme Court lawyer, said he personally did not agree with the apex court order on the JMM bribery case but the silver lining was that even this judgement did not spare the bribe giver.

Answering a question, he said the whole episode had exposed the ''weakness'' of the Anti-Defection Act because the process of disqualifiction of a MP who violates the whip takes long time.

If the violation takes place at the end of the term of Parliament or Legislature, the members would be least bothered because they were sure that the process of disqualification can't take place before the end of their term like in the case of violators of trust vote on June 22, Mr Jaitley said.

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