New Delhi - Police in New Delhi on Friday questioned high-profile lawmaker Amar Singh in connection with the alleged buying of votes during a no-confidence ballot in Parliament in 2008.
The crucial vote came about after leftist parties opposed to a civilian nuclear deal with the United States withdrew their support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority government.
The Indian National Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance government won the vote by a narrow margin amid allegations that lawmakers were bribed to vote for it.
During the two days of debate on the nuclear deal in July 2008, which ended with the left's no-confidence motion, members of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had waved bunches of currency notes in the chamber, alleging they had been offered the money to abstain from voting.
Amar Singh, a former member of the regional Samajwadi Party, was being questioned by Crime Branch officials after two men arrested in connection with the scandal named him during interrogation, the IANS news agency reported.
Sanjeev Saxena, an alleged aide of Amar Singh, and Sohail Hindustani, a former BJP worker, were arrested in July in connection with the alleged vote-buying. They remained in police custody.
The arrests came after the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi Police for their shoddy work on the case. - Sapa-dpa