New Delhi: BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday visited Tihar jail to meet two former party MPs and L K
Advani`s ex-aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, currently under judicial
custody in the cash-for-votes case, to express solidarity with
them.
"It is the festive occasion of Diwali but our innocent
people are sitting inside while the real culprits continue to
rule," Swaraj told reporters before she entered the jail
complex here.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said, "The least we
can do is meet our people, tell them that we stand by them. It
is a festive day, we can give them some sweets and let them
know we care."
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.
"One thing which gave us satisfaction is that they are in
high spirits and they have told us to not worry too much about
them. They also said told us that they were proud of what they
had done," Swaraj told mediapersons.
The BJP maintains that its MPs had acted as whistleblowers
and exposed attempts to buy MPs to win the July 22, 2008 trust
vote.
Advani has said if the two MPs and Kulkarni were guilty
then he was even more guilty as he, in his capacity as Leader
of Opposition in Lok Sabha at that time, had allowed them to
go ahead with the sting operation.
Advani has also been calling the three MPs "whistle
blowers" in his speeches during his ongoing yatra.
Swaraj had earlier also met the former MPs and Kulkarni
along with party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"We had taken out a `jagriti yatra` in the tribal regions
of Madhya Pradesh with two motives which we reiterate. We will
expose the real culprits and we will free our innocent
colleagues," Swaraj said and added that the "party stood by
them like a rock".
PTI
