New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) Revelations in leaked US diplomatic cables through Wikileaks that cash had been paid to MPs for the 2008 confidence vote on the civil nuclear deal with the US will be raised in parliament Thursday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
"The Wikileaks details in today's (Thursday) Hindu about payoffs to MPs are shocking. I will raise this issue in Parliament today," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader of said on her Twitter account.
According to BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, "the truth has been revealed". "They abused the democratic process by bribing the MPs," he said.
The Wikileaks diplomatic cables published by Hindu newspaper quoted the political aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma as saying that a fund of Rs.50 crore had been formed to pay MPs for the confidence vote.
A US embassy official was apparently shown with two chests of cash in the political aide's house, kept for the payoffs.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja said the government should make an explanation on the Wikileaks in the house.
"It is more appropriate for the PM (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) to come to the house and explain his position," he said.