US ambassador Timothy J. Roemer in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Parliament on Thursday. The envoy flew to Srinagar later in the day, while Par liament was in uproar over the latest WikiLeaks revela tions that centre around cables sent out by the US em bassy. The cables claim the Congress had bribed MPs to win the 2008 confidence motion.   Roemer went to the Hazratbal shrine first, then to the Sankaracharya temple. He also enjoyed a 45-minute shikara ride. He had a half-an-hour meeting with Jammu and Kash¬ mir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who later tweeted: “And no I didn't discuss the wikileaks with the Ambas¬ sador though I’m sure you’ll read about this meeting in a year or two.” (PTI picture, text by our special correspondent)

New Delhi, March 17: UPA II’s tryst with taint and trouble was refreshed today by the publication of a WikiLeaks cable sent out of the US embassy in Delhi which claimed the Congress had employed tens of crores in cash to buy off MPs to tide over the trust vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal in July 2008.

The 2008 vote was stained by the unseemly spectacle of some BJP MPs dumping wads of cash they alleged to be part of a covert payoff in the well of the Lok Sabha.

A parliamentary inquiry failed to map the money trail or fix responsibility and wound up recommending a government probe that has made little progress. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not merely won that uproarious trust motion but also a fresh mandate a year later.

The UPA probably least expected the dormant controversy to erupt in its face at a time it is already cascaded in corruption charges and elections in five states are in the works.

There is, in addition, the spectre of judicial pro-activism dangled on political scandal in a manner that troubles party managers — should someone decide to seek a judicial fiat based on the cable or the unfinished probe, the cash-for-votes affair can acquire fresh, and for the Congress, damaging lease.

To add to that, the government must now convince an irate Opposition to cooperate with the passage of the finance bill during the week that remains of the budget session.

The critical portion of the cable sent by Steven White, then charge d’affaires at the US embassy, read: “(Capt Satish) Sharma’s political aide Nachiketa Kapur mentioned to an Embassy staff member in an aside on July 16 that Ajit Singh’s RLD had been paid Rupees 10 crore (about $2.5 million) for each of their four MPs to support the government.

“Kapur mentioned that money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government. Kapur showed the Embassy employee two chests containing cash and said that around Rupees 50-60 crore (about $25 million) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs.”

Sharma and Kapur, a former Youth Congress functionary, have claimed ignorance of events quoted in the cable and denied any formal association with each other. RLD chief, Ajit Singh, has, on his part, asserted innocence of bribe-taking by saying his party never voted for the government.

But the Opposition rushed to make a final nail of the cable’s contents and knocked a “quit forthwith” demand on a government that it believes to be well down a coffin-hole of corruption allegations. The Congress, though rattled by the unannounced return of the cash-for-votes ghost, rose in angry retort, calling the leak a “creation of chaos by forces that wanted to destabilise the country on the basis of hearsay”.

Addressing a news conference following daylong disruption in both Houses, NDA parliamentary party chairperson, L.K. Advani said: “This was the most shameful scandal in the nation’s history because it involved the ruling establishment from top to bottom. The revelations corroborate our stand that the UPA is tainted by political sin. The Prime Minister has no moral authority or legitimacy to lead the government, and the government has no moral right to continue, it should quit forthwith.”

The Left, sensing purchase from the cable’s contents in tough electoral outings in Bengal and Kerala, pounced on the Congress with a renewed sense of vindication.

“This proves what we have held all along,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, who withdrew support from the UPA over the Indo-US nuclear deal, said. “The government was desperate to do a deal with the US, with these revelations the Prime Minister and the government cannot escape responsibility.”

Karat’s CPI allies were more forceful in demanding, like the NDA, the immediate resignation of the Manmohan government.

Appearing to make light of the Opposition’s charge, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi attacked adversaries for their advocacy of WikiLeaks. “It is amazing that an entire country must be held to ransom because of the subjective recordings of hearsay on hearsay on hearsay. This is hearsay on stilts. What is more, this is irresponsible politics and irresponsible journalism, this is the creation of chaos by forces that want to destabilise the country.”

Earlier, finance minister and lone Congress trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee, resorted to a defence in the Rajya Sabha that left the Opposition aghast and outraged.

“What happened in the 14th Lok Sabha cannot be judged during the 15th Lok Sabha,” he said to Arun Jaitley’s quit demand on the discovery of “rogue war chests” behind the 2008 vote. “The government of the day is a newly elected government accountable to the 15th Lok Sabha and not accountable to the 14th Lok Sabha.”

His argument led Sitaram Yechury of the CPM to argue whether a person who committed murder in 2008 should not be sent up for trial in 2011. “Ridiculous argument,” Yechury said. “Is that any defence?”

In the Lok Sabha, where leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj fronted the attack demanding an immediate statement from the Prime Minister, the treasury was barely even there to defend itself. And no assurances on a statement were forthcoming.

The government and the Congress aren’t in panic mode yet but they are rattled by the unexpected whammy, their outward disdain for the cable’s contents notwithstanding. “This is adding to the impression that we are vulnerable on corruption,” a party leader said, “and that we have done little about it until things have been exposed.”

Trouble in Parliament isn’t an immediate concern. There are firm enough indications that the Opposition is in no mood, or position, to move a no-trust motion. It is even less disposed towards forcing a mid-term poll, as Advani openly stated this afternoon at the slight risk of being inconsistent with his demand that the government resign immediately. The real concern is that the image of the government is getting stained.

A top NDA leader attested the real fears in the Congress when he said the battle now was “not inside but outside Parliament”. “This is not a game of parliamentary numbers,” he said, “this is a matter of perception in the masses, that is the battle the Congress is losing day by day with each new revelation.”