By IANS,
New Delhi : Congress leader Ahmed Patel and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh Monday got a clean chit from a parliamentary panel that probed allegations that they had bought votes ahead of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s trust vote on July 22.
A seven-member panel under the chairmanship of Congress’ V. Kishore Chandra S. Deo was formed after three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs – Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora – stunned the nation by brandishing wads of cash in the Lok Sabha shortly before the Manmohan Singh government was to face the trust vote July 22 evening.
The BJP MPs had alleged that they were bribed to abstain during the July 22 trust vote.
“Not an iota of evidence either in the page or in any of the depositions made by the witnesses who appeared before the committee which may prove Ahmed Patel’s involvement in the alleged offer of money to the complainant,” the panel said in its report.
The panel found no evidence to back the charge of the three MPs even in the case of the Amar Singh.
“For want of any such recording of impugned conversation or any other proof with regard to offer of money, it is not possible to come to any conclusion on the veracity of the allegations or otherwise.”
The panel has demanded that the case be probed by an appropriate agency.