Voices in CD that of CM and his wife, says Shanta Kumar

Una, May 31 (UNI) Former union minister and BJP's vice-president Shanta Kumar today said the voices in the CD are those of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his MP wife Pratibha Singh.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said the CD, released by former state tourism minister Vijai Singh Mankotia, had exposed the couple's involvement in ''shady deals'' through government officials.

Mr Kumar said according to the references of the government officials whose voice have been recorded in the CD, the conversations were almost 15 years old when the Chief Minister was newly married to Ms Singh.

''The first three to four years is a honeymoon period and it is a shame that the couple had indulged in corruption at the onset of their married life,'' he said.

Observing that Mr and Mrs Singh had devalued politics, he said during his 50 years of political career neither his wife nor his son had ever called or approached a government official for favours or transfers.

He said all political parties accept funds to run their party affairs, but the Chief Minister has misused the official machinery for the purpose.

''During the time when I was the Chief Minister, no official could dare to talk about party funds,'' he said.

He said the CD expose was probably only the tip of an iceberg.

Morality demands that both the Chief Minister and his MP wife should quit public offices they hold, he said.

''Mr Singh should seek penance in the Bhima Kali Temple at Sarahan, of which he is the chairman. Besides, he should apology for all the sins committed by him on the people of the state.'' Mr Kumar said the Congress High Command should take immediate notice of the CD since the people too have the right to know the facts.

The longer Virbhadra Singh remained in power in the state, the more difficult it would be for the Congress party in the next assembly elections in February 2008, he said.

Lamenting at the popularity of the Congress dipping following the corruption charges, he said it resembled the 1990 Assembly elections when the BJP won 46 seats out of a total of 51 contested by it.

He said corruption was the real face of the Congress party, which was responsible for inflation, poverty, terrorism and naxalism.

UNI