Virbhadra Singh
24 October 2012. Senior Congress party leader and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh apologised to the media for threatening to break their cameras when media persons asked him for his comments on the corruption and tax evasion charges made against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said that he respected the media and that the media persons were doing their job. Congress party spokesman Sandeep Dikshit also apologised for Singh’s comments. Dikshit said that in the midst of election campaign, such things could happen due to mental or physical pressure. The BJP leader Arun Jaitley alleged that Singh had altered his income tax account books from 2008 onwards to show a forged, back-dated contract and a highly inflated income of around $12 million. The allegations included that he received payments from a steel company that had come to light after raids were conducted on the firm in 2010. Singh denied all charges and said that this was a malicious campaign against him in the midst of a poll campaign.
