Indian Cabinet minister quits
An Indian Cabinet minister resigned Tuesday after a state court
charged him with corruption, in a further embarrassment for Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s scandal-tainted government.
“I have given my (resignation) papers to the Prime Minister,”
Virbhadra Singh, the minister for micro, small and medium industries,
told reporters.
The move came a day after a court in Himachal Pradesh charged Singh
and his wife with conspiracy and corruption in a 23-year-old case
related to one of his five terms as chief minister of the northern
state.
The couple have denied all the charges and the ruling Congress party
stressed that Singh’s decision to quit was not an admission of
wrongdoing. “Virbhadra Singh has taken moral responsibility and resigned
but it does not mean that he is guilty. Guilt has not been proven,” said
party spokesman Janardan Dwivedi. AFP
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