And the MPs cut across party lines, with as many as 6 from the BJP:
Lok Sabha:
Anna Saheb M.K. Patil (Erandol, Maharashtra): Rs 45,000
(Question submitted)
Y.G. Mahajan (Jalgaon, Maharashtra): Rs 35,000
(Question tabled)
Suresh Chandel (Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh): Rs 30,000
(Question tabled)
Pradeep Gandhi (Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh): Rs 55,000
(Question not tabled)
Chandra Pratap Singh (Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh): Rs 35,000
(Question not tabled)
Rajya Sabha:
Dr Chhatrapal Singh Lodha (Orissa): Rs 15,000
(Question tabled)
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Three from the BSP:
Narendra Kumar Kushwaha (Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh): Rs 55,000
(Question tabled)
Raja Ram Pal (Bilhaur, Uttar Pradesh): Rs 35,000
(Question not tabled)
Lal Chandra Kol (Robertsganj, Uttar Pradesh): Rs 35,000
(Question does not tally with Parliament record)
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One from the RJD:
Manoj Kumar (Palamau, Jharkhand): Rs 110,000
(Question tabled)
And one from the Congress:
Ramsevak Singh (Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh): Rs 50,000
(Question not tabled)
As the news channel started telecast of the story in the morning, a shocked Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee spoke to political leaders, including Leader of the Opposition L KAdvani on the course of action to be taken. Chatterjee made a statement in the House shortly after it met for the day asking the members caught on camera not to attend the proceedings till the matter is looked into with all the importance it deserves.
"Nobody will be spared. We shall certainly respond to it in a manner that behoves us," he said.
In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat referred the matter to the Ethics Committee and directed it to urgently give its recommendations for necessary action.Members cutting across party lines demanded stringent action against the erring MPs with some of them even calling for their disqualification.
Just ahead of a meeting of BJP Chief Ministers here, Advani consulted senior party leaders and announced suspension of all the six MPs from the Parliamentary Party and instituting an internal inquiry into the episode. If necessary, he said, the party would refer it to the privileges committee.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also directed the suspension of Ramsewak Singh from the party while BSP supremo Mayawati took a similar action against three of her party MPs.RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has also promised stern action against his party MP Manoj Kumar.
In a letter to Shekhawat, four Rajya Sabha members said the behaviour of the MPs has not onlydenigrated the dignity of Parliament but also lowered the image of individualMPs: "We feel the MPs in question should be forthwith suspended from the Houses pending inquiry which would be conducted by an Independent Authority."
The MPs who wrote the letter are Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress), Chandan Mitra (BJP), Tariq Anwar (NCP) and Robert Kharshing.
Acting quickly, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued show-cause notices to the 10 members belonging to the House asking them to give their replies by Wednesday.The Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha sent a similar notice to Chatrapal Singh Lodha.
The BJP, the worst sufferer in the expose, has constituted an internal committee comprising Sushma Swaraj and Anant Kumar to probe the issue of six of its MPs taking money.
