PM 'shattered' by cash-for-vote controversy

New Delhi, Aug 7: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was 'shattered' by the conduct of three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs who flashed bundles of cash in the Lok Sabha during the trust vote debate alleging they were bribed, a high level source said Thursday.

"The prime minister was shattered by the cash-for-vote controversy," said the source close to the prime minister. "The prime minister (had been) confident of winning the trust vote and his body language (reflected) his confidence."

The trust vote was necessitated by the Left parties' withdrawal of support to the Congress-led government following their differences over the India-US civil nuclear deal.

"The prime minister was fully confident (of proving his majority), and this was evident from his decision to go ahead to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) last month, despite the Left's ultimatum to withdraw support from the government.

"The nuclear deal is now set rolling (but) the prime minister is most worried about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir," said the source.

The Kashmir Valley and Jammu region have witnessed violent protests over the state government decision to allot - and then cancel - 40 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for pilgrim facilities.

--IANS