BJP delegation to meet President to demand Himachal CM's removal

New Delhi, Dec 9: Escalating its attack against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, a high-level BJP delegation will on Wednesday meet President Pranab Mukherjee seeking removal of Singh who is being probed by CBI, Enforcement Directorate and IT department over graft charges.

The party delegation will include Union Minister J P Nadda and party MPs from the state, including Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Anurag Thakur, BJP sources said.

Besides, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti and party general secretary and in-charge of Himachal wing Srikant Sharma will also be part of the delegation, they said. The BJP has been putting pressure for Singh's ouster ever since cases have been registered against him by CBI and ED.

The delegation will also handover a memorandum to President Mukherjee in this regard, the sources said.

The ED has filed a case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the Congress leader after taking cognisance of a criminal complaint filed by the CBI in this regard in September.

The agency will investigate the allegation that Singh and his family members allegedly amassed wealth of Rs 6.1 crore between 2009-11, disproportionate to his known sources of income, while serving as the Union Minister of Steel.

CBI suspects that during the period, Singh allegedly invested Rs 6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members' names through an LIC agent claiming this money to be his agricultural income.

It alleged Singh attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised income tax returns in 2012.

PTI