BJP MPs file complaint with Somnath in cash-for-vote scam

New Delhi, Jul 25 (UNI) Three BJP MPs who were allegedly offered huge sums of money for switching their loyalties in the July 22 Confidence Vote in the Lok Sabha today made a formal complaint before Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

The MPs -- Askhok Argal, Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora -- accompanied by Deputy Leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad and party lawyer Pinki Anand submitted their complaint to the Speaker through Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary.

Later speaking to reporters, the MPs and Mr Malhotra said the MPs had sought a copy of the sting CD that was in the possession of the Speaker. The Speaker who had heard the oral version of the MPs had asked them to give their formal complaint and had said he would order a probe.

Mr Malohotra said while it was sad that eight BJP MPs had fallen prey to corruption it was indeed commendable that three of the party MPs had rejected the lure of money and had brought it to the notice of the BJP. He said the PMO and the residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi had virtually turned into bazaars ahead of the trust vote.

He said very soon Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Chief Shibu Soren who was dropped from the Union Ministry would join the Cabinet and his son is to become Deputy Chief Minister in Jharkhand. The Government had paid the DMK in kind by filing an offensive affidavit on Ram Setu. The Government had also availed itself of support of three murder convicts, he alleged.

The Lok Sabha had witnessed high drama on July 22 when the BJP members walked into the House and waved wads of currency notes claiming that they were given by a Samajwadi Party leader as a bribe for absenting themselves during the trust vote.

UNI MCN RL DS1645