Trust vote bribery is BJP conspiracy: Cong

Bhopal, July 26 (UNI) Alleging that the ''bribery expose'' in the Lok Sabha, during the July 22 trust vote, was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conspiracy, the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee today demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.

''It has been proved that the currency bundles displayed in Parliament bore a slip of the State Bank of Indore's T T Nagar branch here. Facts and circumstantial evidence strengthen the conspiracy theory,'' Congress state chief spokesman Manak Agrawal said at a press conference.

Alleging that the statements of BJP MPs Ashok Argal and Faggan Singh Kulaste were at variance, he added that Mr Argal said he was bribed by a Samajwadi Party MP at his residence at about midnight on July 21 while Mr Kulaste said that a person came in a white Gypsy and gave him the money near Delhi's New Meridien Hotel on July 22.

''Interestingly, the third MP Mahavir Bhagora said that all three MPs were paid Rs 1 crore each at 1030 hrs on July 22 at Mr Argal's residence. I am surprised that the MPs did not complain to Delhi Police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. A sum of Rs 1 cr was displayed in the Lok Sabha. Where did the other Rs 2 cr go,'' asked Mr Agrawal.

Claiming that he collected all the facts over the past two days in Delhi, the Congress leader added that legal action was underway to gather documentary evidence.

''Besides, details are being sought under the Right to Information and those details will be made public as soon as they are obtained. Mr Argal, Mr Kulaste and some other leaders should be subjected to a narco test,'' Mr Agrawal felt.

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