New Delhi:
Tihar Jail, known for its recent influx of VIPs, received a very high-profile visitor today. Senior BJP leader LK Advani arrived at Jail No 3 today to meet his former political advisor, Sudheendra Kulkarni who was brought here yesterday.
Mr Advani's colleague Arun Jaitley too visited Mr Kulkarni, who has been remanded in judicial custody till October 1, when his bail plea comes up for hearing.
Mr Kulkarni has been arrested for the cash-for-votes scam. He has been accused by the Delhi Police of "inducement" - of peddling three BJP MPs to Amar Singh ahead of a trust vote for the government in 2008. The three MPs were allegedly given a crore as an advance by Mr Singh for agreeing to abstain during the vote, which Dr Manmohan Singh survived. Two of the three BJP MPs involved have been arrested, provoking strong protests by Mr Advani, who has said that the police is punishing "whistle-blowers" instead of those who benefited from Amar Singh's scheme.
The police has not explained on whose behalf Amar Singh, then with the Samajwadi Party, may have been acting. He was arrested but is currently on bail for medical reasons.
Mr Kulkarni was a key strategist for Mr Advani in 2008; he has since disassociated from the party. He says that his only agenda was to expose the UPA government's willingness to buy support to survive its trust vote. Mr Advani has dared the government to arrest him too. As Leader of the Opposition at the time, he has said, he was aware of his party's scheme, which included coopting a private TV channel to record on hidden camera the money being handed over to its MPs.
Mr Kulkarni is not sharing his 15X10 feet cell with anyone. He has been given a TV, newspapers and magazines. Jail No 3 is where Amar Singh was kept, before he was moved to the AIIMS hospital after he complained he was unwell. He has since been allowed bail.