New Delhi, Mar 17: Dubbing as "utterly baseless" the latest WikiLeaks claim of MPs being bribed ahead of the crucial 2008 trust vote, RLD chief Ajit Singh today said his party had "openly" voted against the UPA at that time.
"We had opposed the (Indo-US) nuclear deal and after talking to MPs from Opposition parties we had decided to vote against the government," Singh told PTI here. He said RLD had made is position clear days before the trust vote.
The former Union minister said as against the claims made in the US cables on the trust vote, his party had three MPs in 2008 and not four. "Somebody said something and they transmitted it without confirming...it is utterly baseless," Singh said.
The RLD leader said he was open to any probe into the entire issue.
A set of US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks has said that an aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma allegedly showed a US Embassy employee "two chests containing cash" and said Rs 50-60 crore is ready for use as "pay-offs" to win the support of some MPs ahead of crucial vote of confidence in UPA government over the Indo-US nuke deal.
Asked about the WikiLeaks claim, V Kishore Deo, the head of the panel looking into the alleged cash-for-votes said, "I had recommended that the report on the scam should be referred to appropriate agencies. I can say nothing on the WikiLeaks report.
"I do not know the source. It is not authentic. So, I don't think it can be used as a basis for making an opinion on this. Just because of WikiLeaks, I and my committee cannot be answerable," he said. PTI
