Soni accuses Jaitley of being a hypocrite for forming alliance with Yeddyurappa

Congress leader Ambika Soni on Thursday said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley was a hypocrite because on one hand he was raising questions about Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's honesty and at the same time merging with former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa to increase the votes.

"On one hand he is raising questions about Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's honesty and at the same time he is forming an alliance with former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa," said Soni.

"Now where are all his lectures on honesty, accountability and transparency gone?" she asked.

"This is hypocrisy and he should be questioned on this. Also, we cannot pronounce someone guilty through press conferences. If they have any evidence of Virbhadra Singh being corrupt, we might consider it but holding press conferences just to taint someone's image is not acceptable," she said.

The Himachal Pradesh chief minister has been accused by the BJP of indulging in a quid pro quo dealing with a private company. Arun Jaitley had accused Singh of being involved in three cases of corruption, one of which involved the owner of a private company.

He alleged that Virbhadra and his wife Pratibha Singh had received a sum of one crore fifty thousand and two crores respectively from Vanshri Vakamula Chandrashekar, the owner of Venture Energy and Technology Private Limited.

He claimed that the same money was invested in a new company opened by Mr. Chandrashekar called Taarini Enterprise Private Limited, through which, Singh's wife, his son and daughter became its shareholders.

On Thursday, Virbhadra Singh had said," Prove me wrong, and, I will quit politics, forget my post."

Over past one week, both the BJP and the Congress have launched protests against each other over the issue.

On December 31, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha had protested in front of Rahul Gandhi's Tughlak Lane residence, and raised anti- Congress slogans. Some even tried to cross the steel and iron barricades.

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