India's Prime Minister rejects bribery accusations in 2008 confidence vote

[News_Editor]

India's Prime Minister rejects bribery accusations in 2008 confidence vote

2011-03-18 23:34:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday rejected the accusations that he bought votes in order to assure victory in the 2008 confidence vote as indicated by information released by WikiLeaks.

PM Singh said that the accusation was based on speculative, unverified information that cannot be confirmed its veracity, contents or even the existence of such communication.

"The events have affected the government and the image of India both at home and abroad. This emphasizes the need for strong purposeful electoral reforms in which funding of elections and political parties can be more transparent and more accountable," said the PM at at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi.

According to a US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks on Thursday, India's ruling Congress party allegedly bribed MPs to survive a crucial 2008 confidence vote in parliament.

Allegedly, political aide Satish Sharma gave a U.S. Embassy employee two chests containing cash in exchange for the support of MPs ahead of a vote over a controversial India-US nuclear deal.

On the July 17, 2008, vote, Prime Minister Singh narrowly won after getting 275 votes in favor with 256 against and 10 abstentions. The cable claims that bribes totaled about $2.5 million.

"I have no knowledge of any such purchases. I have not authorized anyone to purchase any votes and I am not aware of any acts of purchasing votes. So, I am absolutely certain in asserting that I am not at all involved in any of these transactions if any," said the Prime Minister.

On Thursday, an intense discussion took place in the Indian Parliament over the WikiLeaks bribery scandal. The Congress party attacked the opposition for disrupting Parliament over the issue and claimed "the whole world has rejected the WikiLeaks reports."

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