Congress suspends Mankotia for anti-party activities

New Delhi, May 29 (UNI) Mr Vijay Singh Mankotia, a senior Congress MLA from Himachal Pradesh, has been suspended from the party with immediate effect for anti-party activities.

AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said in a statement here that Mr Mankotia had acted deliberately in a way calculated to lower the prestige of the Congress Party.

He said his case had been sent to the Disciplinary Action Committee of the party for further action.

Mr Mankotia's suspension comes a day after he caused a major embarrassment to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, alleging serious corruption charges against him and demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi order a high-level inquiry into his assets.

He has represented the Shahpur seat in Kangra district in the state assembly for four times.

In fact, Mr Mankotia released an audio cassette and a CD purportedly containing the voice of the Chief Minister and his MP wife Pratibha Singh and allegedly indicating some "business deal" in support of his charge.

Mr Mankotia was a minister in the Virabhadra ministry, but was dropped in 2004.

At a press conference yesterday at Dharamsala, Mr Mankotia alleged that the Chief Minister had been amassing wealth for many years.

"If it is proved that he has been getting money as commission from industrialists then he should be sacked from the Chief Ministership immediately," he had said.

UNI