New Delhi:
As she battles the 2G spectrum allocation case in the courts, DMK MP Kanimozhi is slowly settling down to the routine of the Tihar jail where she is currently lodged.
(Should Kanimozhi get bail?)The 43-year-old leader, the youngest child of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, is lodged in ward number 8, in a cell exclusively meant for women.
Her 10 by 15 feet cell has a fan, light and a bathroom-cum-toilet. But Ms Kanimozhi has been denied any VIP treatment - she has not been given a a cot and is forced to sleep on the ground. Jail sources say that she wakes up at 5:30 in the morning and has bread and coffee for breakfast. She then attends court proceedings from 9 am to 6 pm.
Ms Kanimozhi is allowed to get south Indian food every day from the jail canteen.
She is also provided with newspapers every day and has been given a television set that receives 28 channels. Sources say she is fond of reading and takes books regularly from the jail library. Not surprising considering the DMK MP is also a famous poet.
In accordance with the prison norms, Kanimozhi is allowed to meet her family members twice a week.
Jail authorities also confirm that she speaks to other jail inmates and is well-behaved. Among her neighbours is Madhuri Gupta, a former Indian diplomat charged with spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
(In Pics: A-listers at Tihar jail)Kanimozhi has been named as co-accused and has been chargesheeted by the CBI for allegedly accepting a Rs. 214-crore bribe that was a part of India's largest swindle, the 2G scam. Her party MP and Dalit leader A Raja has been in Tihar since February, for allegedly planning and executing the 2G scam when he was Telecom Minister in 2008.