Bribery charges agaisnt HP CM has state unit worried even as Congress high command unfazed

BJP unit in the state have been persistently accusing Singh and his family of receiving interest free loans from the promoter of a power company

Even as the Congress maintained a stoic silence over the alleged bribery charges against Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, a worried Himachal Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has rushed to Delhi to flag the issue with the party high command. The Congress’ till date has been dismissing the allegations against the Himachal CM as being ‘politically motivated’ by the Opposition BJP. The Congress, say insiders, has failed to sense the public sentiment which is firmly hooked onto the anti- corruption mood.

The BJP unit in the state led by Prem Kumar Dhumal and senior leader Arun Jaitley here in the capital have been persistently accusing Singh and his family of  receiving interest free loans from the promoter of a power company, which had transactions with the Himachal government.

While Virbhadra himself had rushed to Delhi this past week, vehemently denying the charges being leveled against him, only the AICC general secretary incharge of Himachal Pradesh Ambika Soni had given him an audience. Party spokesperson and eminent laywer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has also been briefed upon the legal aspects of the case, say sources.

The PCC chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu himself, say party sources has been alarmed at the extent to which the BJP has been stirring the issue. Dhumal’s daily press conferences in Shimla against the chief minister have got the state Congress unit worried about the impact that it could have on the upcoming 2014 polls.

What has surprised some leaders is the long rope that is being extended to Virbhadra Singh. “Given the fact that Rahul Gandhi has come down so heavily on corruption whether it be the tainted netas ordinance or the Adarsh scam, one would have expected some swift action from the high command. But Virbhadra Singh is a very tall leader in Himachal and enjoys tremendous clout,” said a senior Congress leader.

Virbhadra Singh’s “side of the story” which includes a long statement of facts has been uploaded on the AICC website where Singh has claimed it to be a political conspiracy against him.   

The Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi for now have preferred to keep an arm's length from the entire issue with a close aide maintaining, that the high command is using the “wait and watch approach” atleast in this case. “We cant let BJP getaway with scalping our ministers and chief ministers every time they raise the bogey of bribery or corruption,” said a Congressman from the AICC headquarters.

In the past too, the Opposition had leveled corruption allegations against Virbhadra (due to which he was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet) but he came out unscathed and even won the Assembly polls decisively.  The high command is hoping something similar happens this time around as well.