KOCHI: CPM independent MP Sebastian Paul has said that he was offered Rs 25 crore to support Manmohan Singh's first UPA government in the trust vote.

"Two men introduced themselves as people of then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and offered me money when I was alone at my residence in Delhi. They were not Malayalees. When they realised I wouldn't give in, they left. I didn't say anything as it was the time of the sting operation. The then Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi confirmed this when I met him in the Central Hall of Parliament the next day. He said I was included in the list as an independent and no one would approach me anymore. Congress leader Ahmed Patel and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh were also behind this move."

Paul's revelation came in an article written in a weekly in the wake of the controversy over the offer of Rs 50 crore each to two MLAs of the Left Front to defect ahead of the by-elections in Kerala. He told Kerala Kaumudi that it was written in his autobiography also.

"On July 22, 2008, the government had to seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha after the Left withdrew support in the name of the nuclear deal with the United States. Having lost an absolute majority, they had not only approached other MPs offering them money not only to vote in favour of the government but also to abstain from voting. Many fell into that trap. The then Lakshadweep MP was admitted to a private hospital in Ernakulam on the eve of the polls. As an MP from the Left, who withdrew support to the government, I had a 'high price'," Paul said.