India has taken note of the reports of alleged Chinese monetary interference in the on-going Prime Ministerial elections in Nepal. "New Delhi has taken note of the reports," sources said here today, two days after allegations of a Maoist leader trying to buy MPs with the help of a Chinese
"friend" surfaced.
A wiretap on Saturday alleged that the Maoists have sought Rs 50 crore from China to "buy" lawmakers to get their supremo elected to the coveted post.
In a telephonic conversation, the tape of which was leaked to the media in Kathmandu, Unified CPN-Maoists' Foreign Department chief Krishna Bahadur Mahara was purportedly heard asking an unknown Chinese official for Rs 50 crore to buy 50 MPs, apparently from Terai-based Madhesi parties which have been boycotting the polls. However, Mahara, in a statement, dismissed the tape as "fabricated, misleading and fictitious."