Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Tuesday referred to the Ethics Committee of the House the latest sting operation showing members of Parliament taking money purportedly for securing contracts under MP Local Area Development even as several members sought scrapping of the scheme.
In his observations, Shekhawat said two members of the Upper House had been named in the expose and what was shown by the private TV channel had lowered the prestige of the House.
"All of us are highly anguished and without any doubt it is a matter of concern," he said and recalled that recently he had referred a similar issue to the Ethics Committee.
While referring the latest expose to the committee, Shekhawat hoped the matter would be inquired in-depth by the panel, which would give its recommendations as early as possible for necessary action.
A number of members including S S Alhuwalia (Bharatiya Janata Party), Nilotpal Basu (Communist Party of India-Marxist), Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP), N K Premachandran (Revolutionary Socialist Party), Ramdeo Bhandary (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and C Ramachandraiah (Telugu Desam Party) favoured scrapping of the scheme.
Basu said an all-party meeting be convened to discuss the issue. However, some Congress members wanted continuation of the scheme.
