For the second day in a row, the BJP targeted the Congress over corruption charges, this time reviving a bribery scandal against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday. The party accused Singh of “accepting bribe” from a private firm to buy a farmhouse in Mehrauli, New Delhi. However, the Himachal Chief Minister rebutted the allegations.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a Press conference, “The Congress president and vice-president need to say whether they would ask their Chief Ministers to resignIJ” On Wednesday, the BJP had released a videotape, implicating Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s aide in a bribery case. Asked if the BJP would take action against its leaders if the Congress were to remove its “corrupt Chief Ministers,” Prasad said “nothing wrong was done by BJP leaders.”
The BJP claimed that at least five Congress Chief Minister were facing “serious graft charges” and demanded that the Congress leadership make them resign. The charges against Virbhadra Singh were first leveled by the BJP during the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election in 2012. Prasad quoted from a probe document to claim that the charges against Virbhadra Singh stand “proved” and demanded his resignation.
Prasad alleged that Virbhadra Singh accepted bribe from a Hydel power firm Venture Energy and Technology Pvt ltd for reviving its cancelled project in the State and the money was routed by the firm through a winding process to a company owned by his son and daughter to buy a farmhouse for over `6.61 crore.
“Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi please explain, is it quid pro quo or notIJ It is a clear case of bribery. Will you ask Singh to resignIJ” Prasad joined by party spokesperson MJ Akbar and Himachal Pradesh in-charge Shrikant Sharma said.Singh’s son Vikramaditya and daughter Aparajita purchased the property in Mehrauli through their company Maple Destination and Dream Build Pvt ltd for Rs6.61 crore.
Akbar alleged that Congress was “synonymous with corruption” and there were “proven charges” against Congress leaders. He said Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s long-time personal assistant Mohammad Shahid “is a bag man” and “his untold stories of corruption should be investigated,” he said.
BJP also released BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s letter of December 29, 2013, written to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh citing charges of corruption against Singh.
In Shimla, Virbhadra Singh dismissed allegations of corruption and money laundering leveled against him by the BJP as “politically motivated” and a “tactic to divert” attention from allegations against BJP Chief Ministers and Ministers.“I am innocent and all the charges are politically motivated and a crude attempt to malign my reputation and divert the attention from allegations of corruption against BJP Chief Ministers and Ministers,” he told mediapersons.
The BJP is targeting Congress Chief Ministers as a strategy and I totally deny all the charges, he said.“I don’t want to comment on the allegations as the matter is sub judice and cases are pending in Delhi High Court and Himachal Pradesh High Court, Income-Tax Tribunal and other forums and allegations have also been probed by CBI,” he said.Singh said “all the charges have been investigated and I am not afraid of any probe.”