New Delhi, Mar 18: Prime Minister today rejected allegations of bribing MPs to win a trust vote in 2008 saying neither the government nor the Congress party was involved in any such "unlawful" act but the Opposition was not not satisfied and sent signals that confrontation would escalate.
Parliament was rocked for the second day on the issue with the Opposition rejecting the Prime Minister's statement as BJP threatened to move a privilege motion against Singh while Congresss toyed with the idea of paying back in the same coin.
"An issue was raised that the offence of bribery was committed in India. Government rejects the allegations absolutely and firmly," he said in an identical statement to both the Houses of Parliament.
Referring to the charges in the Wikileaks that bribes were paid to win the Confidence Motion of UPA-I after Left withdrew support over Indo-US nuclear deal, he questioned the authenticity of the diplomatic dispatches quoted by the whistle blower website.
"No one from the Congress party or government indulged in any unlawful act," he said.
Singh referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee probe that went into bribery allegations in 2008 and said the committee had concluded there was insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion.
But the Opposition were not not convinced by the Prime Minister's statement and disrupted proceedings forcing repeated adjournments.
Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, who was disallowed by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari from seeking clarifications from the Prime Minister, said Singh had "misled" the House by his claim that there was no no case of bribery would be the poin.
That would be the basis on which his party would table a privilege notice against him.
"The Committee had concluded by majority that Sanjeev Saxena was a bribe giver wittingly or unwittingly," he said and asked as to who was behind Saxena.
Congress hit back saying some of the party MPs would be moving a privilege notice against Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, on the charge of defying Speaker Meira Kumar.
Hitting out at the Opposition, Singh said it was "unfortunate" that it continues to raise the "old charges".
"It is most surprising that speculative, unverified and unverifiable communications should be given dignity and seized upon by the Opposition parties to revive old charges that have been soundly rejected," Singh said.
He pointed out that the UPA-I had won the Confidence Motion in July 2008 with 275 votes in favour and 256 against.
These allegations of bribery were investigated by a committee of the 14th Lok Sabha which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion.
"I am disappointed that the Opposition has forgotten what happened thereafter. The Opposition repeated the allegations of bribery and how did the people respond," he said, citing the increase in Congress seats from 141 to 206 in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls as compared to BJP whose tally declined from 138 to 116 and that of Left parties from 59 to 34.
Insisting that the UPA-I "always enjoyed" the confidence of people, Singh said, "The UPA-II government has been formed in the 15th Lok Sabha and enjoys the confidence of this House and the people of India."
In both the Houses, Opposition members wanted to seek clarifications on Singh's statement but they were disallowed.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the Opposition could not be "gagged" after Chairman Hamid Ansari said rules do not permit clarifications as the Prime Minister had not made a suo motu statement but had spoken in response to demands.
This led to uproar in the House and adjournment, first till 3 PM and then for the day. Similarly, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day in view of uproar by the Opposition members.
Earlier in the morning, Singh said at a function, "I have no knowledge of any such purchases and I am absolutely categorical, I have not authorised anyone to purchase any votes. I am not aware of any acts of purchase of votes."
He insisted, "I am absolutely certain in asserting that I am not at all, I think, involved in any of these transactions." PTI
