‘Cash-for-votes’ accused to spend Diwali behind bars

A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of all three former Bharatiya Janata Party MPs jailed in connection with the 2008 'cash-for-votes' scam - Sudheendra Kulkarni, former aide to party leader L K Advani, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora.

"Sorry, I am not granting bail to all of you," special judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said.

"They (accused) had ample opportunity to inform any law enforcing agency," when the alleged scam took place, the judge added.

The case relates to the no-trust vote faced by the Manmohan Singh government in 2008 after the Left parties withdrew support in opposition to the nuclear deal signed by Singh and former US President George W Bush, paving the way for building now-controversial nuclear power plants in the country. The Left parties alleged that it was a sell-out of national interests.

While the government narrowly won the vote, Kulkarni and the others had waved bundles of currency notes in Parliament, saying this was bribe money paid by the Congress to subvert opposition votes. They are now languishing in Delhi's Tihar Jail along with Amar Singh, the former Samajwadi Party leader who was the alleged provider of the bribe money.

During the last session of Parliament, Advani had dramatically raised his hands as if in handcuffs, daring the government to arrest him as well. He said that as the opposition leader at the time, he was fully aware of the expose; but the government had arrested the whistle-blowers while the givers and takers of the bribe continued to sit ''comfortably'' among the lawmakers.