Trouble brewed for the Himachal Congress ahead of assembly election after bribery charges were levelled against party state president Virbhadra Singh. The HPCC president was allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 2.28 crore by a private firm when he was the steel minister in 2009-2010.

The question was raised after reports of the I-T department seizing documents that suggest a bribe being paid to a certain VBS. Virbhadra Singh has refuted the charges and alleged that the case was fabricated at the behest of the ruling BJP. He denied any undue favour accorded to ISPAT Industries and dubbed the allegations as a cheap political stunt and said to ready for any inquiry by any agency in it.

He claimed that the issue was being raked up in media by his detractors to influence the November 4 assembly poll. Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal reacted to the allegations and said that if the allegations are proved true then it is very bad for the state. Dhumal added that Singh has been quick in accusing the BJP and added that BJP don’t control the Income Tax Deptartment.