The simmering differences of opinion in the State BJP over the medical college bribery scam and the fund collection drive using fake receipts at Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode will reach a flashpoint with the State leadership reportedly deciding to initiate disciplinary action against State secretary V.V. Rajesh and Yuva Morcha general secretary Praful Krishna.
Though the party has not officially communicated its decision, the leadership is learnt to have decided to pin down both leaders as a face-saving bid. The State leadership that remained flummoxed over the leak of a two-member committee report which exposed the medical college bribery scam, had all along been trying to fix the onus on Mr. Rajesh for the report leak.
Though the report had specifically named another general secretary and his role in the scam, it chose to spare him and fix the blame on Mr. Rajesh. The leadership holds Mr. Krishna responsible for bringing to public realm the issue of the fund collection drive.
Party sources told The Hindu here that the latest move to axe two leaders would further deepen the schism in the party and also prompt the national leadership to immediately review the decisions reportedly made in haste while discussions are progressing about the course of action to be taken on the report leak and also the allegation that a sum of ₹5.6 crore was routed to Delhi for securing Medical Council of India’s (MCI) clearance for a private medical college through a hawala route.
The decision has given room to a feeling that the alleged perpetrators of both instances have been spared and the party has chosen to have an escape route by fixing the blame on two others without seeking their version or collecting evidence in a meaningful and convincing manner.
Moreover, the State leadership has chosen to ignore the charges levelled against the Thiruvananthapuram district leadership of taking bribe to accord tax exemption from the city Corporation for a private building in Technopark. The decision was reportedly made by the Tax Appeals Standing Committee headed by a BJP councillor. The latest decision to axe two leaders is likely to stir up a hornet’s nest.