NEW DELHI, 14 December 2005 — India’s upper house of Parliament yesterday suspended one of its members after a TV channel aired footage of 11 MPs allegedly accepting cash for asking questions in Parliament.

The suspension of Chhattrapal Singh Lodha came as newspapers splashed on their front pages news of the “sting” shown on television screens across the nation.

Lodha, who belongs to the main opposition Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was the lone member of the appointed upper house named in the scandal.

The other 10 MPs belonged to the elected lower house and came from the BJP, the ruling Congress party and two regional parties.

They were suspended by their parties Monday after the video, which showed them stuffing pockets with cash for posing questions in Parliament.

Aaj Tak television station, which carried out the sting, had sent a reporter posing as a businessman. The station said it launched a fake business before staging the 11-month-long sting operation.

The latest scandal followed the resignation last week from the federal Cabinet of former Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh over charges he benefited illegally from the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq.

One legislator wanted an annual retainer of 600,000 rupees for posing unlimited questions, the television station said.

One of the MPs shown in the video cried foul after the broadcast.

“We were enticed into taking money,” said Narendra Kumar Kushwaha, one of the MPs shown in the video.

“The media has humiliated us but this is wrong because this is nothing but a political conspiracy to assassinate our character.” Tainted politicians are a major issue in India.

A study last year by an independent watchdog found that nearly one-quarter of the more than 540 people elected to Parliament in 2004 faced criminal charges ranging from murder to rape.

Meanwhile, the media yesterday lashed out at the tainted federal lawmakers.

“MPs on sale for just Rs. 10,000,” a headline in The Times of India said.

“Men who sold our House,” The Hindustan Times said, referring to the Parliament chamber.

A political analyst said the sting operation showed corruption was widespread among politicians.

“It is the tip of the iceberg,” N. Bhaskar Rao said. “Such corruption was there earlier but it is far more blatant now and lawmakers do not think they have to fear any consequences. This is worrying.”

Politicians in the world’s largest democracy are widely seen as corrupt — a survey published by a newspaper over the weekend showed 98 percent of people think that.

Several state and federal politicians face dozens of criminal charges each, from murder to kidnapping and extortion.

But cases often languish for years, sometimes decades.

In 2001, a news portal secretly videotaped top public and military officials accepting wads of cash to swing a fake arms deal. It led to the resignation of the then defense minister as well as the president of the BJP.

But those behind the sting faced tax investigations and some said they were harassed by the authorities.