The Congress has demanded a public apology from the Bharatiya Janata Party and a parliamentary committee probe into the disclosures made by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh that Leader of Opposition L.K Advani was aware of and sanctioned the “cash-for-vote’’ sting operation. “We demand to know who brought the money? Who gave the information to L.K Advani?  Where did the cash come from? Why didn’t the Leader of Opposition prevent it or tell the  Speaker?’’ said spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.

The disclosures, he said, raise issues of violation of morality and ethics, prevention of Corruption Act and breach of parliamentary privileges. And if there was any violation, there should be a CBI probe, he said.

Asked about the inclusion of Sudheendra Kulkarni — who masterminded the sting operation — in the Railway Ministry expert panel, he said the former BJP ideologue was there purely for consultations.

Singhvi rejected the suggestion that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had got herself embroiled in the faction war in the Press Club of India by meeting a group of representatives.

“It  is a non-issue. For several years, there have been requests for a meeting. She gave an audience on that basis  with the Press Club of India ,’’ he said, maintaining that the party was not concerned about who the officebearers were.