New era of 'political vendetta' has started, says Virbhadra Singh

Bilaspur, Oct 3: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being involved in corruption and alleged that a new era of "political vendetta" had started in the country.

Singh, who is facing money-laundering charges and a disproportionate assets case, alleged that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was responsible for the "baseless cases" against him which he was defending in court. Launching the BJP's campaign in the poll-bound state, Modi took a swipe at Singh, claiming that the top Congress leadership was wary of taking action against him as it was also "sailing in the same boat".

"The entire family of the CM is facing corruption charges and is on bail. When I asked some Congress leaders why the chief minister was not being replaced, they said how could the party take action when its entire top leadership itself was on bail," he alleged.

Hitting back at the prime minister over his remarks, Singh alleged, "It is unfortunate that a new era of political vendetta has started in the country...the prime minister is involved in corruption." Singh said the Congress would launch its election campaign on October 7 from Mandi with a rally which would addressed by AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Brushing aside the claims of the BJP that it would win 50 plus seats in the Assembly polls, the chief minister said the Congress would win the elections and form government in the state. Referring to the laying of foundation stones of AIIMS and IIIT by Modi, the chief minister said development of the state was the responsibility of the Centre and thanked the prime minister for doing the needful.

PTI