BJP launches 10-day agitation seeking Virbhadra ouster

BJP today launched a 10-day statewide agitation seeking the ouster of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and a CBI probe into the allegations levelled in a 28-page "charge sheet" submitted by the party to the governor on December 25 last.
The party held rallies at Shimla and Hamirpur where the protests were led by, respectively, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti and former chief minister PK Dhumal.
Addressing the rally at Hamirpur, Dhumal alleged that Congress had broken all records of corruption in the state but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no time to look into the charges against the Himachal CM.

Asking Singh to resign of his own accord to save himself from further humiliation, Dhumal said that the people were determined to see him out. In case Singh remains adamant about not resigning, BJP would approach the governor for his ouster.
In Shimla, BJP workers gathered at Kalibari Hall from where they marched to the Deputy Commissioner's office to hold a demonstration which was addressed by Satti, former minister Narinder Bragata and other senior state leaders.
Satti lashed out at the ruling Congress and accused it of pursuing a political vendetta against its rivals while itself indulging in rampant corruption.

"Charges have already been proved against former Union minister Sukh Ram... The charges against Virbhadra Singh would also be established," Satti said.

Meanwhile, Congress councillors in the Shimla municipal corporation today slammed BJP for unleashing a "malicious propaganda" against the CM, saying that the saffron outfit had been unnerved by the vigilance inquiry into the wrongdoings committed by its leaders while they were in power.
In a joint statement issued here today, a group of 13 councillors said that after the people of the state had ousted the BJP government, its leaders were trying to sully the image of Virbhadra Singh, a six-time chief minister.

They urged the CM to expedite the probe into the affairs of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and expose those behind the alleged irregularities in its functioning.
The "charge sheet", submitted by BJP leaders to Governor Urmilla Singh, mentioned alleged acts of "omission and commission" by some ministers, particularly the CM, Transport Minister GS Bali, Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmauri and Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri.