Hazaribagh:
Yashwant Sinha, the senior BJP leader doing jail time in Jharkhand had an equally high-profile visitor today. LK Advani, 86, visited him today, nearly two weeks after Mr Sinha was arrested for ordering BJP workers to tie up an Electricity Board official in Hazaribagh, the constituency that Mr Sinha relinquished for his son in the recent national election.
Mr Sinha has refused so far to post bail, claiming that he does not want to leave prison till an ongoing power crisis in Jharkhand is resolved. (
In Hazaribagh, Yashwant Sinha does a Kejriwal)
Sources in the BJP explain his protest as a pitch to his party for a lead role in Jharkhand, which is due to vote for its next government soon. That theory received props from Mr Advani today who said, "I have no doubt that Mr Sinha can lead the BJP in Jharkhand once he comes out of jail. "
Both Mr Sinha and Mr Advani are seen as part of the old guard that was sidelined within the BJP by Narendra Modi and his A-team during the campaign for the recent national election which ended with a triumphant win for Mr Modi. (
After Yashwant Sinha's Arrest, BJP protests Against Power Cuts in Hazaribag)
Mr Sinha, who has been union minister in the past, did not run for election this time; his son, Jayant, contested and won the parliamentary seat.
The case against him in Hazaribagh will next be heard on June 28.