Games men play

 

 

Etu Brutus! Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, had never imagined that his old friend, party colleague and former state minister, Major Vijay Mankotia, would turn on him in such a way. Mankotia these days is embarrassing his friend by producing a CD in which the chief minister’s wife, Pratibha Singh, is heard telling an alleged middleman that "the money has arrived, it is being counted."

Since the details of the CD became public, the Chief Minister is hard put to explain away the contents. Even though he has laughed away the charges levelled against his wife saying that Mankotia is a liar and cannot be trusted, things have reached the High Command and according to Congress spokesman, Major Ved Prakash, the charges are currently under investigation.



UPDATE

Himachal CM's friend turns against him

Produces a CD, putting the CM in dock

Trouble between the two goes to the last elections



The trouble between the two goes a long way back. Virbhadra had to include Mankotia in the state Cabinet after a lot of pressure from the high command after the last elections. But the first chance that he got, Virbhadra managed to throw out Mankotia from the government. Since then, the latter has been at Virbhadra’s throat.

The BJP leaders in the state are elated with the release of the CD, hoping to cash in on the infighting within the Congress. The CD is being played currently in public rallies in Hamirpur, where By- elections for Lok Sabha are due early next year. In fact, this CD has gone to all villages in the constituency.

Now, the Chief Minister’s friends are saying that it pays to keep your enemy close to you.