NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani on Tuesday reiterated his earlier views that money power in politics should be curbed and one way would be to bring in public funding of elections.

He said cynicism that nothing can be done about money power must be shed. He noted that elections in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries "were shockingly corrupt" and a seat in Parliament could be bought for £5000 to £6000, but all that had changed and elections in Britain were now among the cleanest.

He drove home the point that both on the Volcker Committee report and the claims made in the Mitrokhin papers, the country should be able to establish the veracity of the allegations against Indian politicians and political parties. Without naming Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he referred to the assurances made by her and said: "I am happy to learn that earlier in the day assurances were given by those who matter that these exposures will be thoroughly probed and the guilty will not be speared."

Mr. Advani was speaking at the Leadership Summit organised by a leading newspaper here.

While answering questions from the audience he stated that he stood by what he had said in Chennai about demitting office of Bharatiya Janata Party president at the end of this year.

Differences with RSS

On his own relationship with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Mr. Advani admitted that there had been some differences — he insisted that he stood by his remarks on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah made by him in Pakistan five months ago — but he strongly held the view that the RSS was an organisation that had contributed positively to character building.

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