Cong, BJP, BSP, JDU, AIADMK MPs willing to lobby for fake oil major for money: Sting op

NEW DELHI: Investigative website Cobrapost has exposed 11 MPs who were willing to write letters of recommendation for a fictitious foreign oil major for money.

The investigation, panning over a year, exposes MPs from Congress, BJP, BSP, JD(U) and AIADMK willing to issue letters of recommendation to promote a fictitious Australian oil exploration company in exchange for fees ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 50 lakh. Six of these MPs even wrote the letters for a fee.

Code-named 'Operation Falcon Claw', Cobrapost expose claims that the MPs were willing to not only write recommendation letters but also lobby with the Union ministry of petroleum to help the company secure oil exploration and rigging rights in the northeast.

However, none of these 11 MPs bothered to check the antecedents of the company or check if the company was real, Cobrapost claimed. What they hankered after was money, quoting as low as Rs 50,000 to a mind-boggling Rs 50 lakh as the price for a letter of recommendation, delivered all in cash. One MP even demanded that his fee be delivered through a hawala operator. Six MPs issued letters of recommendation to Cobrapost.

The parliamentarians who were exposed are K Sugumar and C Rajendran from ; Lalu Bhai Patel, Ravindra Kumar Pandey and Hari Manjhi from BJP; Vishwa Mohan Kumar, Maheshwar Hazari and Bhudeo Chaudhary from JD(U); Khiladi Lal Bairwa and Vikrambhai Arjanbhai from Congress; and Kaiser Jahan from BSP.

Six MPs gave letters of recommendation in favour of Mediterranean Oil Inc, the fictitious firm, for a sum ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. Others were not willing to settle for less than Rs 5 lakh for a single letter, and in one case an MP quoted a ridiculously high price of Rs 50 lakh for a single letter.

Apart from issuing letters of recommendation, some of these Lok Sabha MPs were ready to walk an extra mile to help with lobbying at the highest level of the petroleum ministry. Some would even offer to rope in a group of five MPs for the job.

When Cobrapost reporter, for instance, suggested to Lalu Bhai Patel to pursue their case with the ministry, the BJP MP from Daman and Diu said, "Haan bhai (Yes, brother)!" We paid him Rs 50, 000 for a recommendation letter, as he also agreed to lobby. His fellow party leader Hari Manjhi from Gaya, Bihar, would come along for lobbying with the oil ministry: "Jayenge...chalenge (Will go...will come along)."

Similarly, Maheshwar Hazari, the JD(U ) MP from Samastipur, Bihar, said: "Jab tak hain tab tak aapki company ki madad karenge ... yahan se lekar mantralay tak, jahan tak kahiyega (Will help your company till my term lasts...from this level up to the ministry, wherever you ask)." Hazari would bring along a group of five MPs for lobbying with the ministry. We had to pay him Rs 5 lakh for each MP.