Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Tuesday said that he was ready to give up public life if anyone proves that he paid money to Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament for abstaining during the trust vote and termed it a conspiracy.

Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi [Images], said his party and his name were dragged into the controversy and felt that it could be a strategy of the Opposition to avoid the trust vote as they fear defeat.

"I am ready to quit public life if someone can prove that I bribed the MPs," Patel told reporters.

Noting that it was a "serious but baseless allegation," he said, "If somebody is taking a name, they should have strong evidence to prove that."

Asked whether he felt it was a conspiracy by the Opposition to avoid the trust vote, he said, "It could be...yes of course, it could be to scuttle the vote of confidence."

" I meet hundreds of people. Amar Singhji may has spoken to me on a number of occasions but not in this case," a visibly upset Ahmed Patel told newsmen.

Additional reportage by PTI