The cash-for-vote scam that rocked Parliament during the July 22 trust vote is catching up three BJP MPs in a different way. The three BJP MPs who had alleged that huge sums were offered to them to save Manmohan Singh government during the trust vote are sought to be hauled up for contempt of the House. Ashok Argal, Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora are also being accused of breach of privilege of the Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is understood to have referred to the Privileges Committee the issue of placing the wads of currency notes on the table of the House by three BJP MPs that created a flutter. The move comes in the backdrop of complaints from Congress MP Madhusudan Mistry and Samajwadi Party MP Mohan Singh that the act of the three BJP MPs was amounted to contempt of the House and breach of its privilege. The Committee will record the evidence of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party MPs as also the three BJP MPs. Meanwhile, the Enquiry Committee constituted by the Speaker to go into the issue of whether the three BJP MPs were offered money has submitted its report to the Speaker. The Committee, headed by senior Congress MP V Kishore Chandra Deo, is likely to place the report on the table of the House on December 10 when the House meets.
