New Delhi: Rubbishing allegations of corruption against him by Team Anna, Union Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday sought an unconditional apology from its key member Arvind Kejriwal for "maligning" his name, failing which he threatened to initiate legal action against him.
Virbhadra Singh, who is Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), figures in the list of 14 ministers against whom Team Anna has demanded registration of FIR and investigation into charges of corruption.
Strongly refuting the charge, Singh, who is veteran Congress leader from Himachal Pradesh, in a letter written to Arvind Kejriwal, said "your knowledge is sketchy and founded on inexact information." Singh said the allegation as he read in the media reports against him is that he was filmed demanding bribe from an IAS officer which is "absolute and utter nonsense."
"I dare you to produce any such film before you demand any action against me," the strongly worded letter said.
Giving details, he said an FIR has already been registered against him in 2008 by the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh on the basis of an audio CD allegedly containing his voice from 1989.
"The matter is subjudice and charges have not been framed and therefore to comment on this matter is not only premature but also prejudiced," he added.
Singh said he has filed a defamation suit against former Congress minister in the hill state Vijay Singh Mankotia, who released the audio CD. Virbhadra said in his letter to Kejriwal "I have learnt that you recently visited my constituency Mandi and perhaps have been fed these stories and half truths by my political opponents."
The Congress leader, who is in his 50th year in politics, said "I have had an outstanding and clean record in both the Centre and my state HP.... No one has ever levelled an allegation against me except for BJP government in HP led by Prem Kumar Dhumal."
Singh has served as Chief Minister of HP for a record five times and was a minister in the government of Indira Gandhi.
PTI