New Delhi:
Sudheendra Kulkarni, former BJP advisor, was today remanded to judicial custody by a Delhi court today in connection with the cash-for-votes scam. Mr Kulkarni will now be sent to Tihar Jail.
Earlier, he showed up in court today to explain his role in what's known as the cash-for-votes scam. He said he is ready to go to jail if that is a consequence of his attempt to expose the government's alleged willingness to buy votes to stay in power. Mr Kulkarni's lawyers have applied for bail on his behalf.
Mr Kulkarni said he acted as a whistle-blower and a political activist in 2008 when he persuaded three BJP MPs to put themselves on the political market ahead of a trust vote for Dr Manmohan Singh. The MPs were caught on hidden camera receiving money from middlemen who allegedly represented politician Amar Singh. The MPs then walked into the Lok Sabha hours ahead of the trust vote waving the money- one crore in cash -that they said they had been paid to abstain during the vote. Dr Singh survived the vote.
"Our intention was to expose the most shameful episode of corruption of purchase of opposition and independent MPs to influence their vote in Parliament so that the government that has been reduced for minority survived," said Mr Kulkarni who in 2008 was a senior advisor to BJP leaders like LK Advani. "I believed and I continued to believe that if our members of Parliament....if our MLAs are purchased like this by giving them 10 crore, 20 crore...then India's democracy would be in grave danger," he added.
Amar Singh was arrested earlier this month under the Prevention of Corruption Act but has been granted bail for medical reasons. Mr Kulkarni had skipped earlier court hearings because, he said, he was in the US with his daughter for her college admission. The judge hearing the case today said "I can't understand why some were arrested and others were not."
Two of the three BJP MPs who were paid money in 2008 are in jail. The third is still serving his term as MP so the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has to sanction action against him. In Parliament a few weeks ago, Mr Advani in a dramatic episode dared the government to jail him too. He said that as Leader of the Opposition in 2008, he was aware of his party's plans to entrap the government ahead of the trust vote on July 22, 2008.
Like Mr Advani, Mr Kulkarni argued today that those who helped expose corruption are being penalized while those who benefited from Amar Singh's alleged conspiracy remain untouched. "The issue is who benefited ultimately from this cash for votes? And why is it that those who benefited are all scott free today and those who try to expose it are behind bars?" asked Mr Kulkarni.
The Delhi Police has so far not disclosed the source of the money paid to the BJP MPs. It has also not elaborated on whose behalf Amar Singh may have been acting by bribing BJP MPs to support the government. The BJP has repeatedly said that because Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were the intended beneficiaries of Amar Singh's actions, they should explain the cash-for-votes scam.