Bribery scandal in India as MPs allege government vote-rigging

Mahavir Bhagora, Ashok Argal and Faggan Singh Kulaste said they were each offered 30 million rupees (£350,000) not to vote by the leader of a party allied with the ruling coalition. They said the incident had been captured on a hidden camera by a television news channel.

The investigation was ordered by the office of the Speaker of India's parliament a day after the government, led by the Congress Party, won by 19 votes a confidence ballot that will allow it to proceed with a nuclear co-operation deal with the US. The heated debate that preceded the vote was brought to a standstill when the three men waved bundles of cash they claimed had been delivered to their homes the same day. "A person came to the residence with two bags full of cash and put it on the table," Mr Kulaste later told reporters. "I asked him to open the bags to show us whether the cash was real or fake. Then he took out 10 million rupees in cash."