New Delhi:
Politician Amar Singh will be interrogated tomorrow at 11 am by the Delhi Police about his alleged role in the cash-for-votes scam. The BJP alleges that three of its MPs were offered a crore to vote for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a trust vote in July 2008.
At the time, Mr Singh was a senior leader of the Samajwadi Party, an ally of the UPA coalition at the Centre. The police will investigate allegations that he provided the money offered to the BJP MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora. On July 22, 2008, hours before the trust vote process began, they marched into Lok Sabha waving bundles of cash. The Prime Minister survived the vote. A parliamentary committee was set up to study the BJP's allegations and it asked the Delhi Police to investigate the matter. (
Read: Police evidence against Amar Singh)
Two men have been arrested since Sunday. Sanjeev Saxena describes himself as a former aide of Amar Singh. Hidden cameras provided by a TV channel reportedly show Mr Saxena offering money to the BJP MPs. The TV channel was brought on board to conduct the sting by Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was then advisor to BJP leader LK Advani. He will also be questioned about his role by the police.
Mr Singh has said that he did not know Mr Saxena well. But the BJP MPs have told the police that Mr Saxena introduced himself as Mr Singh's secretary. A note issued on Mr Singh's letterhead dated June 2, 2008, also described Mr Saxena as the politician's assistant. And phone records accessed by NDTV show that six calls were made from to Mr Saxena's cellphone to Mr Singh's residence barely 24 hours before the trust vote began.
The police have also extensively questioned Sohail Hindustani, who was arrested yesterday. Mr Hindustani allegedly tried to shop the BJP MPs around to Congress leaders before the trust vote. Several turned down his officer, according to the police. They claim that Mr Hindustani then approached the Samajwadi Party via its leader Rewati Raman Singh.
The police believe that Amar Singh did not depute Mr Hindustani to find BJP MPs who could be bought. Rather, Mr Hindustani knocked on the doors of the Samajwadi Party, promising that he could deliver three BJP MPs.
The BJP's own role has also been questioned. A report in the newsmagazine Tehelka earlier this year revealed that the party may have urged its MPs to put themselves on the market ahead of the trust vote, in the hope of exposing the UPA's willingness to buy support. This is why, some say, the BJP also co-opted a TV channel to shoot the negotiations between the MPs, Mr Saxena and Mr Hindustani.