WikiLeaks reports on Parliamentary bribes; BJP demands Govt's resignation

'Sharma' being Satish Sharma, a man described in the cables as a close friend of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The cable, dated July 17 2008, goes on to explain how various other members of the Congress party were working hard to cajole, convince and mostly outright bribe MPs into voting in support of the Congress-led UPA.

The cables reveal that both the Congress and the BJP were trying to garner support for their respective side using various tactics. As the Americans were mainly concerned about the fortunes of the UPA, the cable focuses primarily on their efforts.

One such example given by the cables is the 'dinner' tactics used by both sides. MPs were called to dinner by both Manmohan Singh and L K Advani. The attendance in the dinners was presumed to give a fair indication of the amount of support each side would gather on the day of the voting.

The Congress was described as being very aggressive in its campaign to get votes and also lists various other offers made to reluctant MPs. The cable also predicted that the Indian Government only would get a slim majority despite all of these efforts, which turned out to be true.

The entire cable can be read here

While bribery in Parliament is hardly a new or surprisingly revelation, for the first time it has been collaborated independently by a third-party observer.

As expected the revelation lead to the reigniting of the issue in Parliament by the BJP.

The BJP, at least, could not be surprised. BJP MPs had stormed the Assembly well during the no-confidence motion, holding up wads of cash and claiming that it was given to them by the Congress. The investigation into that event went nowhere, but might be reopened now.

Today in Parliament, the BJP demanded the UPA government resign as it has lost all moral rights to continue in power. Meanwhile the Left has asked for a criminal probe.

The UPA has gone into damage control mode. Sachin Sharma denied in Parliament that he ever even had an aide called Nachiketa. The RLD chief Ajit Singh denied the allegations of pay-offs and said the party voted against the Manmohan Singh government.

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley raised the issue saying, "It is conclusively clear that this government survived on political and moral sin."

"A government which survived on such a political sin has no authority to even to continue for one minute. We demand this government must resign immediately," he said, amid shouts of 'shame, shame' from BJP benches.

Frequently interrupted by Congress members, Jaitley said the expose reflected the "extraordinary depressing situation how our democracy has been reduced.... The leak completely establishes the worst that we had feared at that time (2008)."

"Are the facts are so embarrassing that the ruling party is disturbing the House," Jaitley asked when Congress members were on their feet to counter the opposition.

Leaders of all major parties including CPI-M, CPI, JD(U) and BJD joined Jaitley in demanding the resignation of the government forthwith. They also demanded Prime Minister to come and explain.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who wanted to respond, was not allowed by BJP members and Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan said "this is not fair" on the part of BJP members, who trooped into the well and started shouting slogans.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says not possible for government to either confirm or deny Wikileaks cables.