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The cash-for-votes scandal was a political scandal allegedly masterminded by then Opposition Party Bharatiya Janata Party politician Sudheendra Kulkarni〔(New arrest in Indian cash for votes scandal )〕 in which the United Progressive Alliance, the majority-holding parliamentary-party alliance of India led by Sonia Gandhi, allegedly bribed Bhartiya Janta Party MPs in order to survive a confidence vote on 22 July 2008. The vote in the Lok Sabha arose after the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front withdrew support from the government, who wanted to pursue an Indo-US nuclear deal. ==Events and allegations== In 2008, the 123 Agreement signed between the United States of America and the Republic of India is known as the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement or Indo-US nuclear deal. The framework for this agreement was a 18 July 2005, joint statement by then Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and then U.S. President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward ''full'' civil nuclear cooperation with India. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) that was supporting the Dr Manmohan Singh government, objected to the agreement siting reasons that proposal would see the United States supply nuclear technology to India in return for India agreeing to United Nations inspections of its nuclear programs and the splitting of the civil and military aspects of those programs. CPI(M) believed that this would cause India to be effectively subservient to the US. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also objected, on the grounds that the inspections could impede development of the country's nuclear arms program. It had been argued by Dr. Manmohan Singh and his party that the nuclear infrastructure needed to be developed more rapidly because the existing electric generation facilities were incapable of meeting growing demand. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the governing alliance in India elected in 2004, faced its first confidence vote in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) on 22 July 2008 after the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front withdrew support over India approaching the IAEA for the Indo-US nuclear deal. The vote was so crucial that the UPA and the opposition parties summoned MPs from their sick beds and even from prison cells to take part in the vote, which was eventually won by the Government.〔(Second day of trust motion ) India Today Group Online〕 The government's success in the 2008 confidence vote was marred when three BJP MPs, including Ashok Argal, waved bundles of cash which they produced from bags in parliament during the debate, accusing the government of giving it to them in order to buy their support or abstention in the vote. The BJP demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the allegations and claimed that they had video evidence of the deals being made, while the CPI(M) leader said that "Practically every member of parliament has been approached with offers of money and inducements." The government denied the allegations, pointing out that Argal would have self-incriminated himself by admitting to receiving a bribe. The Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, asked New Delhi's police chief to investigate.〔 A fortnight later, on 2 August, the BJP offered "documentary evidence" to support its allegation that Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahaveer Bhagora had been bribed. The evidence included transcripts of video recordings and explanatory letters from two of the MPs, all of which was passed to the investigatory committee that had been set up by parliament. The BJP also criticised CNN-IBN, who had recorded the BJP MP's attempt to sting the government but had not broadcast it. The tapes were broadcast on 12 August 2008 after CNN-IBN had made its appearance before the investigating committee. The company had resisted the calls for an earlier broadcast on the grounds of legal opinion that it had not yet attended the committee and that the broadcast might prejudice the investigatory process.〔 The parliamentary investigation began on 30 July 2008 and has frequently been referred to as the Kishore Chandra Deo committee. The committee reported in December 2008 that it had found no evidence of bribery in the case of Rajya Sabha members Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel. They had been accused of offering the bribes, and Singh was a prominent member of the Samajwadi Party (SP) which had begun to support the government at the time when the Left Front moved to oppose it. The committee also recommended further investigation into the activities of Sanjeev Saxena, Sohail Hindustani and Sudheendra Kulkarni. Saxena was an aide to Amar Singh, Kulkarni had a similar role for the BJP leader, L. K. Advani and Hindustani was a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activist (although some early reports say that he was a driver). Some committee members distanced themselves from the report's full conclusions but agreed that the additional investigation was needed. The report concluded that the video evidence relating to a car at Singh's house was insufficient proof: it was not possible to determine who was in the car and "It does not prove what transpired inside the house. There is nothing to show that money was offered for voting in favour of the motion of confidence or for abstaining from voting." A police investigation was instigated in January 2009 to look into the issues relating to Saxena, Hindustani and Kulkarni which had been recommended in the report of the parliamentary committee. In his autobiography ''Drohkaal ka Pathik'', released in November 2013, former MP Pappu Yadav alleged that during the July 2008 trust vote, both the Congress and BJP had offered "Rs 40 crore each" to MPs of his Indian Federal Democratic Party, for their support.〔http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pappu-s-memoirs-payoffs-from-upa---nda/1200046/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cash-for-votes scandal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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