With eye on Himachal polls, BJP seeks probe

Pointing out that Virbhadra Singh quit as cabinet minister after a court framed corruption charges against him, the BJP on Saturday demanded a probe into the alleged payment made to him by a steel firm.

"Everyday a new skeleton of corruption tumbles out of the Congress closet... The then steel minister is suspected to have received Rs 2.28 crore illegally from a private firm. The firm has kept a detailed diary of such payments... the diary is with the Income Tax department. As it is an issue of quid pro quo arrangement, it needs to be investigated immediately," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Javadekar rejected denials based on the argument that Singh uses VS as his initials, not VBS as mentioned in the list of beneficiaries in the diary seized by the enforcement agencies. "What matters in not how he writes his initials but how the paying company recognises him," he said, pressing for a comprehensive probe into this issue.

The BJP spokesperson also faulted the Income Tax department for not following up the leads that came to its notice about two years ago.

With the former Himachal Pradesh chief minister leading the Congress campaign in the state, the BJP today sought to score some poll points. "What is worse for the country is that the Congress party makes a virtue out of corruption and presents a fallen guy as hero," said Javadekar.

In Shimla, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP's national general secretary J P Nadda demanded an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team.

With ENS, Shimla

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