Ranchi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha was arrested on Monday and sent to 14-day judicial custody today for leading a demonstration against power cuts in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh.
Upset over the 10-hour-long power cuts every day, the local unit of the BJP, led by Mr Sinha not only protested but also tied up and paraded a senior official of the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB). The cops finally rescued the official, then detained the senior BJP leader and arrested 50 others.
In court, Mr Sinha admitted that it was on his orders that the official was tied up. But then the BJP leader decided to pull what many would call an "Arvind Kejriwal". He had the option of furnishing a bail bond before the local court and going free, but he refused to do so quite like the AAP party chief a few days ago in Delhi.
Jharkhand is currently ruled by a Congress-JMM government. With summer temperatures across the state soaring to above 40 degrees in most places, power cuts have become the norm across the state. Towns like Hazaribag, Bokaro and Dumka - former Chief Minister Shibu Soren's Lok Sabha constituency - are the worst affected.
Assembly elections in Jharkhand are due this year, and the current power crisis has given Mr Sinha an opportunity to establish himself in state politics ahead of the polls.
The Jharkhand government has promised an improvement in the power situation, but it seems more agitations like this one may become the norm in the state if something is not done quickly.
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