CD 'shows' BJP behind cash-for-vote scandal

IANS
Published: August 04, 2008, 23:25

New Delhi:  In yet another twist to the cash-for-votes scam, three allies of the ruling Congress on Monday released a fresh CD purportedly showing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the help of a former Samajwadi Party worker had "stage-managed" the incident ahead of the July 22 trust vote.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) supremo Ram Vilas Paswan presented a CD - the third one since the scam broke out on July 22 - claiming that the BJP with the help of an aide of a former Samajwadi Party MP, Shahid Siddiqui, was behind the controversy. Siddiqui has joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

'Proved wrong'

"All the claims of BJP leaders have been proved wrong," said Mulayam Singh, addressing a crowded press conference at Paswan's 12, Janpath residence.

Although the CD - the party did not divulge where it has come from - was played on a big screen at the press conference, the leaders were not ready to take any questions from the media.

The three socialist parties were sharing the same platform for the first time in a decade yesterday.

They said the CD had come in an envelope to Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh's house.

The CD shows sting operations on Faggan Singh Kulaste, one of the three BJP MPs allegedly being bribed, and Sanjiv Saxena, who had earlier worked with the Samajwadi Party.