BJP, Mankotia trying to implicate me, says CM

Hamirpur, May 31 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today accused the BJP and suspended Congress legislator Vijai Singh Mankotia of trying to implicate him in corruption charges, saying that they had come together for power only.

''I have no role in any graft as referred to in the CD. Besides, I will file criminal cases against Mr. Mankotia and BJP leaders for trying to harm my image and reputation,'' he said, while addressing rallies on the last of the campaigning here.

Defending himself in the CD issue, he said it was the result of a conspiracy between the BJP and suspended Congress legislator Vijay Singh Mankotia who had come together to gain power only.

Mr Singh claimed he would continue with his mission for eradication of corruption from public life.

While the Chief Minister asked the people of the constituency to vote for the Congress for stability and unity of the state, Mr. Dhumal blamed the Congress for all the ills in the state and the country.

Mr Dhumal told people that the Congress and Mr Singh had no right to seek votes on issue of corruption since corruption charges have been levelled against the Chief Minister and his wife.

Urging the people to vote for the BJP for all round development and to expose the nefarious designs of the Congress, he said the Congress leaders were all set to 'sell the interests' of the state to the big business houses.

The election campaign for the Hamirpur parliamentary seat ended here today with the emphasis now shifting to door to door campaigning.

Six candidates are fray for the Hamirpur seat, which fell vacant following the suspension of BJP MP Suresh Chandel by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee after his involvement in the ''cash for query scam''.

However, the main contest is between former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal of the BJP and Congress's Ram Lal Thakur, who is also the state Forest Minister.

As many as 11,75,238 voters would exercise their right to franchise in 17 assembly segments spread across Una, Hamirpur, Kangra and Bilaspur districts of state.

Meanwhile, in a release at Shimla, Chief Electoral Officer (CEC) Manisha Nanda said the polling would be held on June two from 0800 hrs to 1700 hrs.

In all, 1,372 polling stations have been set up for the by-polls of which, 293 stations have been declared sensitive and 163 as hyper-sensitive, she added.

UNI