Wait for the High Court orders, Congress tells Virbhadra

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asked former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, against whom corruption charges were framed by a Shimla court, to not resign yet and wait for the verdict of the High Court in the CD row.

This came after the Union Minister himself offered to resign saying he did not want to embarrass Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying, "I take moral responsibility for this, if needed I will resign."

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also hit out at the Union Minister following the court orders. Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra demanded that Singh must be dismissed over the incident.

This came after the Union Minister himself offered to resign saying he did not want to embarrass the Prime Minister.

He said, "Virbhadra Singh should either resign from his post or the UPA must dismiss him."

The Team Anna also did not refrain from attacking the former chief minister. Key member Arvind Kejriwal said, "If such ministers continue to remain in the Cabinet, corruption in our country will never reduce. We demand Virbhadra Singh's resignation. We also think that Virbhadra Singh should not be the CM candidate of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh."

According to the charges framed against the former chief minister, he allegedly granted favours to industrialists.

The prosecution had filed a chargesheet in 2010. Sources say that Virbhadra had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in May to apprise them of the court verdict.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)