Electoral reforms needed to curb horse trading: PM

Responding to a question at the India Today conclave on Wikileaks revealations that MPs were paid off ahead of the 2008 trust vote, Manmohan Singh said: “The events you have mentioned, they do affect us. They affect our image both at home and abroad. Without going into any specific event, all this empahsises the need for strong and effective electoral reforms in which funding of political parties is more transparent.”

The cash-for-votes scam resurfaced Thursday after the publication of a  diplomatic cable leaked by Wikileaks in which the Congress was alleged to have bought MPs to win the 2008 trust vote and stay in power.

“I wouldn't like to comment on (Wikileaks revelation),” Manmohan Singh said, adding there were questions being raised “about the veracity” of such an expose.

He said a parliamentary committee had looked into the issue "and that report is available"