Virbhadra meets Ambika Soni, rubbishes graft allegations

New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is in the eye of a storm over corruption charges against him, today presented his version of the issue to Congress General Secretary Ambika Soni, who is in-charge of the state.

He, however, could not meet party chief Sonia Gandhi as also Rahul Gandhi, who was not in Delhi.

Virbhadra Singh. AFP

Singh had rushed to the national capital yesterday to explain his position to the party high command after BJP alleged that he had taken a "bribe" from a private power company to grant extension to its project.

During the meeting with Soni, he is understood to have rubbished the allegations and shown certain documents pertaining to the matter.

The charges against him have come at a time when Congress is seeking to take a high moral ground on the issue of corruption.

Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh, who is the Congress MP from Mandi and also facing corruption allegations, also met a number of senior party leaders at the AICC headquarters yesterday to explain her position on the issue.

Singh has slammed the opposition party of indulging in "malicious propaganda" against him and his family and denied the allegations saying they were "politically motivated".

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley had alleged that he had taken a "bribe" from a private company for extension of a power project in the state.

Singh while denying the charges insisted that he had taken no bribe and issued an eight-page statement seeking to rebut Jaitley's charges point by point.

"Frustrated BJP leaders are fabricating false stories and twisting and tampering facts to suit their convinence. They have been waging the same old issues pertaining to my income tax return and loan taken by my family, which have been replied and clarified time and again and there is nothing material or new in them" Singh said.

"As the Congress party and the government in the state has started to grow from strength to strength and the wrongdoings of the previous BJP govenment especially former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his sons are getting exposed, personal attacks against me have grown in equal momentum and volume," he said.

PTI