New Delhi:
Sources say that the Delhi Police wants to interrogate politician Amar Singh in the cash-for-votes scam. Because Mr Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP, the police have written to the Chairman of the House, Vice President Hamid Ansari, to sanction permission for Mr Singh's questioning.
Mr Singh's former aide, Sanjeev Saxena, has told the police that the politician provided the one crore that was intended to buy the support of three BJP MPs in a trust vote in 2008.
Mr Saxena was arrested over the weekend. Mr Singh has denied knowing him well but in court yesterday, the police said that Mr Singh had introduced Mr Saxena as his secretary to BJP MPs.
Mr Saxena was allegedly caught on camera offering one crore if the MPs agreed to vote in favour of the UPA during a no-confidence vote moved against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2008. Mr Singh was then a senior leader of the Samajwadi Party, which was an ally of the UPA.
The MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora - walked into the Lok Sabha hours before the trust vote waving bundles of cash. Mr Argal's interrogation by the police needs the sanction of the Lok Sabha Speaker because he is still serving his term as MP. The other two, who are no longer in the Lok Sabha, have been questioned by the police in recent months.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was then an advisor to senior BJP leader LK Advani, has said that he asked a private TV channel to use hidden cameras to record Mr Saxena offering the money to BJP MPs.
The footage has been studied by the Delhi Police.
The BJP has also faced considerable heat over the scam after a report in Tehelka suggested that its MPs had solicited buyers - the party may have to explain whether and why whether it deputed its MPs to shop themselves around ahead of the trust vote, in the hope of being able to expose the UPA.