New Delhi, March 17 : Congress leader Capt Satish Sharma on Thursday said Nachiekta Kapur "neither was or is my political aide".Capt Sharma said this to a news channel over telephone in a brief but cryptic statement."I have read the Hindu paper. It said I have an aide.
I do not have any political aide. There was no aide of me by the name of Kapur as reported by the paper," Sharma said.
On his part, Nachiekta Kapur, who was DDG Media and Protocol in the Organising Committee during Commonwealth Games, also said he was not a political aide to Capt Satish Sharma.
Nachiketa Kapur told a news channel over telephone that "I never worked for Capt Satish Sharma. If I find a US officer who wrote this cable, I will file a defamation suit against him."
Nachiketa Kapur also said "I vehemently deny this malicious allegation."When asked about the allegations of him stashing Rs 50-60 crore, Kapur said, "There was no cash so pointing out does not arise."
Kapur however admitted that he had a casual acquaintance with Capt Satish Sharma but was never his aide.Asked whether he met an official from the US Embassy, Kapur said he never met the US official. "No, I did not meet him."
US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks claimed that an aide of 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.
RLD chief Ajit Singh also denied the allegations of his party MPs taking bribe to vote in favour of the Government."Our party was against the nuclear deal and
incidentally the recent event in Japan has vindicated us. We had extensive discussions with the TDP, TRS and Left and we decided to vote against the government and we did vote against the government," Singh said.
The cable claimed that Kapur, Sharma's political aide,mentioned to an Embassy staff member in an aside on July 16,2008 that Ajit Singh's RLD had been paid Rs. 10 crore for each of their "four MPs" to support the government.
Kapur reportedly mentioned that money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government, according to the cable sent from the US Embassy to the US State department dated July 17, 2008.
Kapur showed the Embassy employee "two chests containing cash" and said that "around Rs. 50-60 crore (about 25 million USD ) was lying around the house for "use as pay-offs", the cable claimed.
Demanding resignation of the UPA government, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said, "After today's publication of Wikileaks this government has no moral right to be in office even for a minute.
"We demand immediate resignation of the government. The entire government must go lock stock and barrel."
The CPI(M) has demanded registration of a case in the 'cash-for-vote' scam following the Wikileaks expose. The party termed it as a "gross act of political malfeasance and bribery" and said the Congress leadership cannot escape responsibility.
In a statement, the party Politburo said the report sent by US Charge d'Affaires Steven White should be the basis for filing an FIR and initiating an investigation against Satish Sharma and his aide Nachiketa Kapur, who were named in the diplomatic cable.
"The Congress leadership, including the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh), cannot escape their responsibility in this gross act of political malfeasance and bribery", the statement said. PTI
