HP elections: BJP seeks inquiry into Virbhadra Singh's tax returns, alleged kickbacks

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday turned the spotlight on the Congress's chief ministerial candidate for Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh and sought an inquiry into Singh's tax returns and alleged land scams ahead of the elections. The BJP also hit back at the Congress by raking up the corruption accusations against Singh.

"Surprised and shocked by the news about my income and Income Tax returns. Surprised and shocked by the news about my income and Income Tax returns. First they raised issue of Ispat. Industries pay off. I had demanded a CBI inquiry so that the truth can come out. In fact some of the details in this pay off even date back to a year back before I became a union steel minister at the centre in June 2009," said Virbhadra reacting to the allegations.

Reports emerged showing that at the time that Singh allegedly received kickbacks, huge cash deposits were made to his business partner Anand Chauhan's account. Singh has been accused of allegedly receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs 2.3 crore from Ispat Industries when he was Union Steel Minister between 2009 and 2010.

Questions are also being raised over some entries in the income tax documents he has filed as part of his nomination. The entries in the revised tax returns show a 30 times jump in his income from agricultural activities - mainly apple orchards managed by Anand Chauhan.

Singh has also been accused of subverting rules to allow sale of land by his kin to real estate firm DLF. BJP National Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, "The BJP is not on backfoot in the fight against corruption. The BJP President has said that he is ready for any investigation. On the other hand Congress is running away and the Congress leaders are saying there is no need of investigation."

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