The Hindu : National : CNN-IBN team deposes before panel

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Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008
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CNN-IBN team deposes before panel

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: A CNN-IBN television channel team of 6 members, led by its head Rajdeep Sardesai, on Monday deposed before the Kishore Chandra Deo parliamentary committee set up to establish the facts in the cash-for-votes scandal.

The seven-member committee asked questions from the team, which made it clear that the channel was contacted by “sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party” and on that basis it decided to carry out a sting operation, which was to be part of a larger story planned on the subject of cash-for-votes ahead of the trust vote in Parliament.

Mr. Deo told The Hindu that at the next meeting on August 18 four persons had been asked to appear before it — Samajwadi Party MP Rewati Raman Singh, who allegedly fixed an appointment for the three BJP MPs with SP general secretary Amar Singh; Sudheendra Kulkarni, political aide of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, who was present at the spot when the “sting’ was conducted; Sanjeev Saxena, who reportedly brought the cash to the residence of BJP MP Ashok Argal; and Sohail Hindustani, who reportedly accompanied the three BJP MPs to Mr. Amar Singh’s residence.

Some of these names had “come up” during the cross examination of Mr. Argal and Faggan Singh Kulaste.

The third BJP MP, Mahavir Bhagora, who was recuperating after an operation, has also been asked to appear before the committee if his health permits.

Two more tapes related to the incident were given to the committee by the CNN-IBN team on Monday.

The team explained that these tapes were not part of the ‘sting” but carried interviews with the three BJP MPs immediately after they were allegedly given Rs.1 crore for defying the whip of their party to vote against the government’s confidence motion. In fact, on July 22 they displayed the cash, allegedly received, in the Lok Sabha a few hours ahead of the vote on the confidence motion and they voted against the motion.

Privately, Mr. Sardesai is believed to have conveyed to Mr. Deo that his channel would be telecasting the tapes (which it did at 8 p.m. on Monday), a right it had reserved even when it submitted the raw, unedited tapes to the Speaker’s office a day after the trust vote.

Mr. Deo has reportedly not objected to this.

It is learnt that not one member of the committee told the CNN-IBN team that any of the tapes submitted by them were doctored.

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