Sushma meets jailed leaders

A day after Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh was granted bail in the cash-for-vote scam, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj visited Tihar jail to meet two former party MPs and LK Advani’s ex-aide Sudheendra Kulkarni — currently under judicial custody — to express solidarity with them.

A day after Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh was granted bail in the cash-for-vote scam, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj visited Tihar jail to meet two former party MPs and LK Advani’s ex-aide Sudheendra Kulkarni — currently under judicial custody — to express solidarity with them.

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Former BJP MPs Mahavir Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste along with Kulkarni were arrested by Delhi Police in the case related to alleged attempt to bribe MPs ahead of 2008 trust vote in Lok Sabha.

BJP MP Ashok Argal is also an accused in the case.

Swaraj’s visit came a day after another accused, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, got bail in the matter on health grounds.

After the meeting, Swaraj said that her jailed party colleagues continued to be in high spirits.

The BJP is angry that while Amar Singh has been granted bail on “humanitarian grounds”, its MPs, who acted as whistleblowers and exposed attempts to buy MPs to win the July 22, 2008 trust vote, are still behind the bars.

"No action has been taken against those who benefited from the scam... their role has not been investigated," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He said it was unfortunate that those who "exposed" the scam are behind bars "even on Diwali".