Advani surprised that bribe CDs yet to reach Speaker

New Delhi, Jul 23 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today expressed surprise over the MPs' bribery CD/tapes not having reached the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee till noon and demanded an immediate probe into the matter.

Talking to newspersons, Mr Advani said it was a serious issue as it was told that the CD/tapes had been sent to the Speaker's office yesterday.

''After the three BJP MPs gave their version before the Speaker yesterday, the channel had said that it had submitted the video tape, recording of the bribe being given to them, to the Speaker's office,'' Mr Advani said.

Calling it equally surprising why the channel had not telecast the 'episode', following the sting operation, Mr Advani lauded the three party MPs for resisting the allurement and exposing the misdeeds of the ruling alliance.

When informed that the channel had said that it was examining the veracity of the tape, hence the delay, Mr Advani said, ''The most surprising aspect is why had the tapes not reached till now.'' ''We expected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to act after the complaints were made but so far there are no such indications,'' the BJP leader regretted.

Mr Advani also claimed that another BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh had received an SMS from an ''authentic number'' offering him ''the last chance'' to get Rs 35 crore for going against the party during the trust vote.

UNI AN SW BD1727