THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior
Congress leader
Benny Behanan demanded independent probe into alleged corruption behind the attempt to regularise illegal admissions to
Kannur and
Karuna medical colleges.
He was the first one to support party MLA V T Balram, who had opposed the medical admission regulatory bill aimed at regularising the admissions.
Alleging graft to the tune of several crores, Behanan, in a statement on Sunday, said: "It has also come to the notice of officials that both colleges accepted capitation fee. Though it was found out by the admission supervisory committee and bureaucrats, the information was suppressed by the government. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had taken personal interest in bringing out the legislation to regularise the admissions. Only an independent probe can reveal the corrupt dealings behind the act."
However, Behanan's demand has put the Congress in a fix as all, except one, legislators of the party had supported the controversial bill when it was tabled in the assembly. While senior leader Pandalam Sudhakaran slammed Behenan, K Muraleedharan appealed to all leaders not to worsen the issue.
Interestingly,
Behanan was backed by KPCC former president V M Sudheeran, who demanded the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan, in the wake of the governor withholding his assent to the bill on Saturday.
Senior Congress leader A K Antony also supported the minority in the party who are against the lobby of senior leaders including Oommen Chandy, M M Hassan and Ramesh Chennithala, who still feel that party's support to the bill was right. Youth Congress president Deen Kuriakode and KSU president K M Abhijeet have also opposed the party backing the bill.
Last Friday, Congress
MLAs K S Sabarinathan and Roji M John had come out against their colleague Balram for objecting to the bill. They had even claimed that Balram's act was merely aimed at garnering 'likes and applauses'.
