BJP summons Kerala unit chief over college scam

New Delhi: The BJP central leadership has summoned party’s Kerala unit chief K. Rajashekharan over the alleged medical college bribery scam, involving few saffron party leaders, even as voices are growing within the party’s state unit for Mr Rajashekharan’s ouster.

The central leadership, sources said, is also miffed over the “media leak” of findings of an internal probe conducted by the state unit into the entire allegations. The issue was also raised in Parliament by the CPI(M) recently.

Mr Rajashekharan and organisational secretary M. Ganesh, both RSS pracharaks, are likely to meet the central leadership next week after the private medical college officials took up the matter with BJP president Amit Shah. The issue has also left BJP’s ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) seething. The owner of the medical college is said to be close to SNDP’s general secretary Vellapally Natesan. BDJS is the political wing of SNDP, an influential organisation of Ezhava community in the state.

There are allegations that BJP’s cooperative cell convenor in the state R.S. Vinod took a bribe of `5.6 crore to facilitate a licence for a private medical college.

Mr Vinod, who was expelled from the party earlier also for “anti-party activities”, was brought back after Mr Rajashekharan took over as the state unit chief. Another person allegedly involved in the case, Satish Nair, is said to be close to the state unit chief. Mr Nair’s elder brother is considered close to the RSS.

Speculation is also rife that the BJP could go in for an overhauling of its state unit as names of some of its leaders have cropped in in the alleged medical bribe scam.

Even the RSS, which has a major influence in the state, has asked the BJP leadership to take “immediate action” in the case which has turned into a major political controversy and has hit party’s “anti-corruption” plank.

The issue has once again brought to the fore the unabated factionalism within the BJP’s state unit. Allegations are that the faction led by former state unit chief V. Muraleedharan leaked the internal report’s findings to the media and there is a demand by some leaders that those who leaked the report should be sacked.

There is also a growing demand that the central leadership should revamp the entire state team as the alleged scam has heavily tarnished the party’s image in the state where it is desperately trying to gain ground.