Former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has alleged that three MPs of his Indian Federal Democratic Party got money "courtesy then finance minister Yashwant Sinha", to join the NDA in 2001. He has also claimed that during the July 2008 trust vote, both the Congress and BJP had offered "Rs 40 crore each" to MPs for their support.

Pappu Yadav has made these claims in his autobiography 'Drohkaal ka Pathik', to be released in New Delhi on Wednesday. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the chief guests, and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan a special guest at the ceremony.

Yadav has written: "The rate for the MPs' support had to be bargained... Anwarul Haque got an Accent car and Rs 1 crore, Nagmani got Rs 1 crore immediately with an assurance of a minister of state berth later, courtesy then finance minister Yashwant Sinha. P C Thomas also got MoS status. Anwarul Haque and Sukhdev Paswan took money, and when Nagmani did not get the MoS post, he too was given money. The rest did not take any money. I had an old family relationship with Yashwant Sinha."

When contacted, Yashwant Sinha rubbished the allegations saying, "It is useless, completely scurrilous. I deny it. It is not worth a comment."

Yadav has also claimed that before the 2008 trust vote, both the UPA and NDA "approached" him. "Both parties (Congress and BJP) offered Rs 40 crore each to MPs. My wife (former MP Ranjit Ranjan) met Bihar in-charge five-six times. She then met Ahmed Patel. Then she met Sonia Gandhi. We had no talks about money... even though our family needed money at that time..."

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