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Breaking News: Currency notes flashed in Indian Parliament

by nahai | July 22, 2008 at 04:59 am | 315 views | 4 comments | 0 recommendations

New Delhi: Pandemonium gripped the Lok Sabha (the Lower House) on Tuesday afternoon as opposition MPs suddenly flashed bundles of currency notes they said were being doled out by government supporters to bribe MPs ahead of a crucial trust vote later in the day.

The trust vote was necessitated by the Left parties withdrawal of support to the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal was presiding over the house, trying to persuade Basudeb Acharya of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) to end his speech, when Ashok Pradhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) walked rapidly to the table of parliament staffers, accompanied by a colleague.

Both then placed two leather bags on the table and pulled out bundles of 100 rupee notes, alleging bribery.

As the house - and the nation - watched in shock, Atwal left his seat. In no time, a large number of MPs, mainly from the opposition benches, trooped towards the empty speaker's chair, shouting slogans.

The trust vote has been deferred and may take place only late in the night.

Updates:

United Progressive Alliance govt needs 271 votes; as of now it has 268 confirmed MPs

Updates:

Voting begins

Updates:

Confusion over voting, Pending 54 votes.

UPA all set to win

Updates:

Leftovers to vote again

Updates:

Counting on...

Updates:

For 253, Against: 232 Pending: 54

Updates

Suspense continues...as Speaker calls for votes of those missing.

Updates

UPA govt wins trust vote by 275 to 256.

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PEP

at 05:30 on July 22nd, 2008

Hi, do you need help with the Highlight Tool? You might also want to check out earlier coverage here. Thanks for contributing.

nahai

at 05:45 on July 22nd, 2008

No thanks. I got the highlight tool.

PEP

at 05:54 on July 22nd, 2008

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