NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwa

According to WikiLeaks report- an aide of Congress leader Satish Sharma allegedly showed a US Embassy employee "two chests containing cash" and said Rs 50-60 crore is ready for use as "pay-offs" to win the support of some MPs in UPA government over the US nuke deal.

NRI Sant Singh Chatwal has declined to comment on WikiLeak's report that showed he was involved in the cash-for-vote scam in 2008 trust-vote against UPA-1.

This purported WikiLeaks report is "baseless and absurd" and absolutely had no communication with Akali Dal leaders.

Chatwal denies contact with PM, Akali Dal on n-deal trust vote

Washington, March 18, 2001:

Indian American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has denied as "baseless and absurd" a purported WikiLeaks report suggesting that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was trying to win Akali Dal support during the 2008 trust vote through him.

Chatwal, chairman and CEO of Chatwal Hotels & Resorts, said Thursday that he never went to India from June through October 2008. Nor did he have any contact on this issue with the prime minister or the Akali Dal by telephone or any other means.

"Basically I don't have interest in these stupid type of things," he told IANS on phone inviting anyone to check his phone or e-mail records or check with Akali Dal leaders Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal.

"I only enjoy building better relations between India and America," Chatwal said acknowledging that he did help in taking forward the India-US nuclear power deal "which is good for both the countries and we worked really hard to make sure it really happened".

Chatwal said he knew the Badals, but had nothing to do with Akali dal. Nor does he have a networking connection with the Prime Minister's Office.

"This is totally baseless, rubbish and just absurd," he said asserting the prime minister never got in touch with him on the trust vote issue.

The purported WikiLeaks cable from the US embassy said that Captain Satish Sharma "considered to be a very close family friend of Sonia Gandhi" told the US political counsellor that the Congress party was working hard to ensure that the UPA government wins the July 22 confidence vote on the India-US nuclear deal.

"Sharma said that PM Singh and others were trying to work on the Akali Dal (8 votes) through financier Sant Chatwal and others, but unfortunately it did not work out," according to the leaked cable......IANS/NRIpress.com
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US declines comment on cash-for-votes to win n-deal vote

Washington, March 18, 2011 The US has declined to comment on a purported cable released by WikiLeaks suggesting that India’s United Progressive Alliance government sought to win the 2008 trust vote by bribing opposition members.

“It’s allegedly classified. I’m not going to say it’s classified or not. But it certainly - if it is classified, we wouldn’t speak about it, and we’re not going to speak about it in any way, shape, or form,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Thursday.

He was responding to a question about the purported cable from the US embassy suggesting that an aide of former union minister Satish Sharma had shown to a US diplomat money collected by Congress to purchase votes to win the July 22 confidence vote on the India-US nuclear deal.

Asked if the US condoned such “corruption in government,” he said “of course the United States is always for greater transparency in governments throughout the world because transparency in governments leads to better political systems that are able to help the people that they represent.”

“So, I mean, more broadly, we deal with corruption issues throughout - in many countries throughout the world. And that’s an important part of our assistance efforts to many countries in the world. But specifically, what pertains to India, I really can’t speak to that,” Toner said....IANS/NRIpress.com