SHIMLA: The state BJP leaders today launched a frontal attack on Congress ministers accusing them of "shielding" Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over graft charges.
The war of words between the parties intensified after three cabinet ministers in the Singh-led government, yesterday called Union Health Minister JP Nadda's statements "false, misleading and politically motivated".
"The Congress ministers have made themselves objects of public ridicule by going to media without verifying the facts," BJP leaders Ram Swaroop Sharma, Jairam Thakur and Rajiv Bindal and Suresh Bharadwaj said in a rejoinder today.
The joint statement by them was nothing but a ploy to mislead the people and divert their attention from real issues of "corruption and malgovernance", they said.
"They should have verified the facts before making such irresponsible statements. They exhibited their limited and superficial knowledge," the leaders said.
They added that Nadda had not questioned the process of election and selection of the Chief Minister, but "reminded him about the minimum level of morality and accountability expected in public life".
"When a person holding highest office of state executive becomes synonymous with corruption, non-governance and nepotism, his morality demands that he should resign from his post," the leaders said.
Terming the ongoing cases of disproportionate assets against Singh and his family members as a "open and shut" case, they alleged, "The Chief Minister instead of facing trial and proving his innocence is projecting himself as a victim."
He is trying to play the emotional card but these gimmicks will not work. Sooner or later, the truth would come out, the leaders said.
"It is unfortunate that instead of expressing gratitude to the Union Minister for approving and sanctioning so many projects to the state, the Congress is indulging in petty politics to undermine his achievements," they said.