The tapes showed Sanjeev Saxena, who the BJP claimed was an aide of SP leader Amar Singh, handing Rs 1 crore to three BJP MPs, who, the party said, were acting as “whistleblowers to expose political corruption.”

Amar Singh denied that Saxena was linked to him and said he was an occasional visitor to his 9, South Avenue office which was in the name of Shahid Siddiqui, the SP leader who has now moved to the BSP.

This is what the tapes aired on Monday night showed:

• SP MP from Allahabad Reoti Raman Singh is seen coaxing the three BJP MPs—Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Bhagora-to accompany him to someone’s residence to “finalise things”.

•The tape shows a Maruti Zen going to Amar Singh’s residence. While the BJP claims that the news channel saw two MPs, Argal and Kulaste, entering Amar Singh’s residence, the reporter said he could only see the middleman, Sohail Hindustani, getting down from the vehicle. The other occupants were not visible as the car had tinted glasses.

•The tape shows Saxena coming to Argal’s residence with a bag of money which he says is Rs 1 crore. While Saxena is repeatedly seen dialling the cellphone and landline numbers of “Boss” and “Singh Sahab,” one of the MPs says he wants to speak to Amar Singh and Saxena passes on the phone to him.

When asked by CNN-IBN whether Saxena brought the money on his behalf, Amar Singh said his name was not mentioned directly.

The BJP had accused the news channel of backing out from its promise that it would air the tapes while CNN-IBN had said that the story was not complete and timing of the story could not be decided by political parties. Its editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai today deposed before the special Lok Sabha committee headed by V Kishore Chandra Deo.

When contacted, Reoti Raman Singh said his stand was vindicated and the tape showed that he did not talk about money or cross-voting. “In fact, Ashok Argal, the BJP MP, wanted to bargain with me regarding joining the Samajwadi Party. I openly said that I knew nothing when Ashok asked about the money,” he said.

“I even did not call Amar Singh for the purpose as was claimed by the BJP MPs¿ Meeting any Member of Parliament, even from an Opposition party, is not restricted by any court of law,” said Singh.

He, however, accepted that he met Ashok Argal and discussed his joining the Samajwadi Party. He said he would prove his innocence before the Parliamentary panel on August 18.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the complaint of the three BJP MPs to the Speaker stood “authenticated by the telecast of the tapes.” He said: “This conclusively shows that the Dr Manmohan Singh Government procured its majority on July 22 through corrupt and dubious means. It also showed that Amar Singh was playing an important role in Operation Procurement of MPs and that Sanjeev Saxena paid money at the behest of Amar Singh.”