Nadda seeks Himachal CM's resignation over corruption charges

Union Health Minister and senior BJP leader J.P. Nadda on Monday said Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh should resign on moral grounds in view of charges of disproportionate assets and money laundering against him.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha among others.

A probe had reportedly found that Virbhadra Singh had accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore in his name and in the name of his family members, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income, during his tenure as the Union Steel Minister from 2009 to 2011.

"Virbhadra Singh's cases are pending in courts but he's still in public life. He should resign on moral grounds," Nadda told reporters here.

He said the Chief Minister's preoccupation with his cases had impacted governance in the state.

"The delay in the completion of central projects by the state is an indication in this regard," he said.

On the state BJP leadership's contention that central agencies probing charges against Virbhadra Singh and his family were deliberately going slow, Nadda said: "The central agencies are working independently. I will not comment on them."

Nadda, who belongs to Himachal, was on a visit here to attend a function to mark the birth anniversary of India's first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Minister expressed concern over the alleged inordinate delay by the state in commissioning central projects, including a super specialty block in the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla and a cancer centre for the state.

"I was keen to lay the foundation stone of the super specialty block today (Monday) itself, but the state government is yet to identify the land for it," he said.

--IANS

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