India charges four politicians in bribery investigation into parliamentary vote

Arrests made as Anna Hazare continues fasting campaign that has mobilised thousands to root out political corruption

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press in Delhi, Wednesday 24 August 2011

Supporters of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, in New Delhi.
Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/EPA

Four Indian MPs have been charged over an alleged cash-for-votes scandal during a crucial confidence vote the ruling Congress party faced in 2008, a police official said.

The four men charged were Amar Singh, Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora, said a senior police official who declined to be named.

Socialist party MP Amar Singh has been accused of bribing three legislators from the opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) to vote in favour of the government. The police official did not give any more details about the charges.

Wednesday's news comes as a scandal-plagued government struggles to find a solution to end an eight-day hunger strike by a popular activist demanding strict anti-corruption legislation. Anna Hazare's fast has drawn tens of thousands of corruption-weary Indians to his protest in the heart of the capital and inspired smaller rallies across India.

The alleged bribery scandal in parliament first surfaced in March, when a leaked US diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks said the Congress party bribed MPs before the vote over a nuclear deal with Washington.

The cable from a US embassy official said a Congress party functionary showed him two cases full of cash meant to bribe MPs to vote with the party. An Indian newspaper report alleged the lawmakers were paid $2.5m each to buy their support.

Days after the cable's contents were reported, the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, told parliament that no one from the government or the ruling party had bribed MPs during the vote.

The government has been hit by a series of corruption scandals in recent months related to the selling of a mobile phone spectrum and the conduct of last year's Commonwealth Games.