Virbhadra accused of favouring pvt firm

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday accused Congress veteran and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of taking benefits for himself and his family members from a private firm that his government allegedly favoured over a hydel power project.
Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley demanded the Congress party, its chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, to clear their stand on the issue.
Mr Jaitley also demanded a probe by the Income Tax authorities and CBI into the matter which he described as an “Open and shut case”.
Mr Jaitley said he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday over the matter with documents to support his allegations and demanded appropriate action into the matter.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has submitted the letter to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha also.
“Virbhadra Singh has been one of the long serving Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh. He is a senior leader of the Congress party.
“For the last 15 months, several exposures have taken place in the media relating to him. Each one of these exposures is independent and constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” he added.
He claimed the Virbhadra Singh Government had allotted a hydel power project Sai Kothi to Venture Energy and Technology Private Limited on June 14, 2002.
He said the company had defaulted in execution of the project and it had sought extension which was granted to the company. (PTI)