Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded that Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Ashok Argal, who made allegations of bribery against his party in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, be arrested immediately.
"The allegations about bribery is an attempt to defame us," he said. Mulayam claimed that the amount of Rs one crore cannot be stuffed in such a small bag shown by the three BJP Lok Sabha members in Lok Sabha.
He also said the fingerprints in the bags should be examined to bring the actual person who delivered money to book.
Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav termed the allegation as a 'drama' staged by the saffron party when they were about to be 'exposed for offering money' to RJD's Pappu Yadav.
"It is drama," Lalu told reporters soon after three BJP MPs alleged that they were offered Rs three crore each for abstaining from voting during the confidence motion.
"These (allegations of offering money to BJP MPs) were all false and planted by the opposition parties. Narco-tests should be conducted on the three BJP MPs who leveled the allegations. They should be arrested," he said.
SP leader Amar Singh warned that he would slap a defamation case against the BJP leaders. "I am warning the three BJP MPs. They will have to go to jail for defaming me. A case will be slapped against them," Singh said.
BSP chief Mayawati asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately resign from his post.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign on moral grounds. This is a black day in the history of democracy," said Mayawati.
Describing the incident as "most unfortunate and a very sad day in the history of Parliament", the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee promised that he will take all possible steps as the custodian of the House.
"Nobody will be spared if found guilty," he said. Chatterjee had convened a meeting of political leaders to discuss the issue and he has requested the three BJP MPs to give their complaint in writing to him.
Accusing the Opposition parties of violating the decorum of the House, the Congress described the entire episode of displaying cash in the Lok Sabha as a planted operation.
Congress leader and Union Minister Ashwini Kumar told reporters, "It was a drama to prevent the voting. The kind of example that has been set in the Parliament is unfortunate".
Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal too demanded an investigation into the allegations by the BJP members.
The Communist Party of India accused the UPA government of using 'most unscrupulous and unethical means' to prove its majority on the floor of Lok Sabha.
Noting that it was a "dangerous signal for Indian democracy," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said, "What has happened to our Parliamentary democracy"?
