Several key Indian political parties formed an anti-government alliance Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a confidence vote marred by allegations of bribery. The new opposition coalition – which brings together the government's former communist allies, a rising regional party and several smaller groups – said even though the government won the confidence vote, it had been irreparably tainted by accusations of corruption and vote-buying. Ashok Argal, a BJP parliamentarian, interrupted parliament proceedings Tuesday by producing bags stuffed with currency notes amounting to Rs30 million (£357,500). He alleged the money had been given to him by Congress party members to abstain from voting and help Singh's government survive the confidence vote. The moment was televised live to millions of viewers on state-run television, but the channel soon cut away to images of Mother Teresa instead. Two other BJP members made similar allegations, which were apparently backed by claims made by the local CNN-IBN news channel, that it secretly filmed the bribe being paid. The station declined to air the footage but said it had handed the tapes to Somnath Chatterjee, the parliamentary speaker. “This is the most unfortunate and a very sad day in the history of parliament,” said Chatterjee, vowing that “nobody will be spared if found guilty.” But while Singh made enemies in his bid to push ahead with the nuclear deal, he had the backing of the markets, which surged Wednesday. The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index rose 838.08 points or 5.94 percent to 14,942.28, its fifth straight day of gains. “The market was euphoric,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, the chief economist with Bank of Baroda. While BJP leaders demanded the “immediate resignation of the Prime Minister,” SP general secretary Amar Singh and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president, alleged by the BJP as the bribe-givers, separately stated they would quit public life if the “serious allegations were proved.” __
