By IANS,
Shimla: Turning the heat on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh on the CD controversy, the opposition Congress Friday demanded the dismissal of the government and a Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) probe into the controversy.
In a memorandum submitted to Governor Prabha Rau here, Congress leaders, led by state chief Kaul Singh Thakur, demanded dismissal of the government headed by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. It also demanded giving the probe to the CBI, the suspension of vigilance chief D.S. Manhas and stripping BJP Lok Sabha member Varinder Kashyap of the membership of parliament.
“Corruption is rampant in the state… the video CD allegedly featuring Kashyap as accepting money and the audio CDs exposing how the telephones of senior Congress leaders were being tapped allegedly at the instance of the chief minister had brought the issue into focus,” said the memorandum.
The CDs – two audio and one video – were sent to select journalists, legislators and high court judges Jan 19. In the alleged conversation recorded in one of the audio CDs, Director General of Police (Vigilance) D.S. Manhas is asking Dhumal about tapping the phones of Virbhadra Singh and his wife. At this, a voice sounding like Dhumal is heard replying: “Do it.”
Virbhadra Singh and his wife were booked Aug 3, 2009, under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the basis of an audio CD released by his political adversary Vijay Singh Mankotia in 2007.
In the video CD, BJP MP Virender Kashyap was shown allegedly accepting cash regarding the grant of permission to an educational institute in the state.
A day after the release of the CDs, the chief minister ordered a probe to look into the authenticity of the audio CDs.