Cash for vote: Kulkarni in jail,BJP up in arms

Kulkarni,54,is a columnist with The Sunday Express.

The court had threatened to issue an arrest warrant after Kulkarni failed to appear at the last two hearings of the case. Presenting himself today,he sought relief saying he was “a whistle blower”. He also presented papers showing he was in the US for his daughter’s college admission.

“There is no reason to deny interim bail to a person whose regular bail is pending (in court) and who was not arrested during investigation,” counsel for Kulkarni said.

The Delhi Police has alleged that Kulkarni approached Samajwadi Party leaders in a bid to influence the 2008 trust vote of the UPA-I government. Kulkarni allegedly “masterminded” the conspiracy to bribe MPs with Suhail Hindustani,the police said.

“The charge against me is politically motivated,” Kulkarni told reporters. “I attempted to expose the purchase of MPs.”

“If my purpose was to pocket the money,I would not have let it be shown in Parliament. In fact it was not a deal of Rs 1 crore but of Rs 9 crore,” he told the court.

Questioning Kulkarni’s arrest,BJP president Nitin Gadkari said: “Police are not catching the thieves,but going after the saints.”

BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are likely to go to Tihar to meet Kulkarni tomorrow,followed by a press conference. Swaraj had earlier met former BJP MPs held in the cash-for-vote scam in jail.