Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. (Press Trust of India photo)
Rejecting the BJP's demand for his resignation, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday said he was not in office due to mercy of the opposition party but due to love and support of the people who had elected him to the post for the sixth time.
"I have faced many challenges in life and it was due to the love and faith of the people that I became the Chief Minister for the sixth time and did not need any certificate from the NDA," he said while presiding over the closing function of the four-day Lavi festival which concluded at Rampur 135 km from Shimla on Saturday.
Asserting that he would not be cowed by such tactics, Chief Minister Singh said "If any enquiry is left, the Centre should conduct that also and even take the help of FBI".
"I am not afraid of any investigations as I have done not anything wrong...whenever the opposition initiated enquiries against me, I emerged stronger than before with the blessings and love of people," he said.
Alleging that all cases against him were politically motivated and the handiwork of state BJP leaders and few Union Ministers, he said their selfish and ulterior motives would never succeed.
Chief Minister Singh said the Lavi fair, which had a long distinguished history, had started more than two centuries before independence and was famous for trade fair between Tibet and India.
Earlier, the Chief Minister also offered tributes to the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 125th birth anniversary and termed him as the leader of masses.