CM’s son backs Kaul, targets BJP

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 6

The support for Kaul Singh Thakur today came from the most unexpected quarter as state Youth Congress president and son of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said his organisation was rock solid behind the beleaguered minister.

In a bid to put the blame on the BJP, he said the release of the audio CD was yet another conspiracy by members of the Opposition against the Congress government and the Chief Minister.

“The surfacing of the audio CD is not new in the political history of Himachal Pradesh as in the past too, such fabricated CDs had surfaced. These contained purported conversations of senior leaders indulging in illegal financial transactions, including Virbhadra Singh, which could not stand the trial of the court,” he said.

The Youth Congress leader said this was as an act of cowardice on the part of the Opposition to tarnish the image of a well-reputed Congress leader. “I condemn such an act and will follow it up with statewide agitation to demand an impartial probe by the state government to bring the culprits to book in a time-bound manner,” he said, pledging his support.

Vikramaditya said the timing of the CD was questionable as there were rumours of internal dissidence within the ruling party. This, he said, was nothing but a concoction of the Opposition to create imbalance in the government as the BJP was issueless to take on the Congress regime and thus indulging in such cheap gimmicks.

The Youth Congress chief went to the extent of saying that former Chief Minister PK Dhumal had always had a fascination for such acts of espionage and it was under his regime that such things flourished and encouraged.

Probe CD case: HLP 

The Himachal Lokhit Party today accused the Congress and BJP of promoting phone tapping and transfer mafias in the state. 

The party   demanded a probe into the release of the CD in which talks of some commission and omission were on. The party leaders,  Subhash Sharma and Dharam Chand Guleria, said the case came to light during the BJP regime. Over 1,400 calls were tapped. The Congress did nothing to probe the case, adding that the CD was sent to party leader Maheshwar Singh by some anonymous sender. The leaders said: “The BJP and Congress are responsible for dirty politics.”  “If the voice in the CD is that of a minister, a probe should be conducted,” the party demanded.