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Probe ‘note for vote’ episode: Paswan

JAIPUR: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday called for an inquiry into the alleged attempt to bribe Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and the circumstances under which wads of currency notes were brought into Parliament on the day of the vote of confidence.

“There should be an impartial inquiry into the whole episode. Both giving money as bribe as well as accepting it are punishable under the law,” he said.

Talking to journalists in Ajmer during a visit to the dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and the Pushkar Lake, Mr. Paswan said the role of the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh should also be probed as they were present in Delhi that day.

“The Chief Ministers are under a cloud as the money has seemingly come from the States. We have information that the currency notes taken out from bags and waved in the air by the three MPs inside the House were drawn from banks in Indore and Bhopal,” Mr. Paswan revealed.

“Let there be an investigation into aspects like how could the MPs get inside Parliament with wads of currency notes and why the police were not informed about the attempt to bribe,” he asserted.

Targeting Bahujan Samaj Party leader and U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati, Mr. Paswan said her dream of becoming the Prime Minister of the country would remain mere “wishful thinking”.

“She appeared to be in a great hurry to become the Prime Minister but forgot the fact that she had not even 80 MPs with her,” he said.

The Minister said except for inflation which remained to be tackled all the promises made by the United Progressive Alliance Government to the people at the time of assuming power had been fulfilled. “The inflationary trends are induced by exterior factors such as oil prices. The Centre has taken several steps to contain the prices while the State Governments have done little to rein in the hoarders and black marketers,” he charged.

Mr. Paswan said his Lok Janshakti Party -- which has one MLA in the Rajasthan Assembly -- is likely to go it alone in the coming Assembly elections in the State. The party is planning to hold a workers’ training programme at Pushkar in August, he revealed.

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