Rumours are rife that the leadership of the BJP’s Kerala unit, which has incurred the central leadership’s wrath following a bribery scandal, could well be headed for a purge in the not-too-distant future.

The leak of an internal report by a team tasked to look into the bribery charge is suspected to have been engineered by dissidents in the top rungs of the State leadership.

An amount of a little more than ₹5 crore is said to have been collected from a promoter of a private medical college here and transferred to ‘agents’ in Delhi for securing Central clearances.

BJP State President Kummanam Rajasekharan may alone survive the purge, which is reportedly being considered to quell factionalism. BJP National President Amit Shah had expressed his displeasure regarding the feuds in the State unit on a number of occasions in the past.

Meanwhile, the State unit, which denied the goings-on for most party of the day on Thursday, announced the expulsion of RS Vinod, the Convenor of its Cooperative Cell, who is said to have received the bribe money.

The party may act against a member of the internal probe team who is suspected to have leaked the contents of the report.

A meeting of the BJP’s Core Committee, scheduled to be held on Friday, was cancelled following the ‘ill-health’ of the State President. On Saturday, the State Committee will meet to discuss the latest situation.

The issue has attracted national intention with Opposition members in the Lok Sabha, particularly A Sampath of the CPI(M), making spirited interventions by pointing to what he described as the ‘hawala route’ used to transfer the bribe money.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, State Secretary of the CPI(M), alleged that the BJP central leadership was also involved in the scandal. What has come to light is the tip of the iceberg, he told newspersons here.

He charged that the BJP has demanded and collected money from promoters of at least 70 other medical colleges across the country for sanctioning these clearances.