In a bid to send out a strong message, Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajashekharan has removed State Secretary VV Rajesh and Yuva Morcha State General Secretary, Praful Krishna, from their official posts following directives from the party’s central leadership.
Action was taken against Rajesh in connection with the leaking of an internal party report on the medical college scam to the media. Praful was removed for disclosing information on counterfeit party receipts allegedly used for fund collection in regard to the party’s national executive meeting in Kozhikode.
The Times of India reported that Kummanam directly informed the leaders regarding this action. “Discussions leading to the action have come out of the communication between Kummanam and the central leadership. Not even the members of the party core committee were aware of such a move,” TOI quotes a source inside the party.
Other reports suggest that action will also be taken against BJP leaders KP Sreesan (State General Secretary) and AM Nazeer (State Secretary), who conducted the internal inquiry of the scam, for failing to maintain the secrecy of the report.
The medical college scam and extortion of money for BJP funds had created a huge controversy and the party faced strong criticism for it.
The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau served notices on Monday to the state BJP chief Kummanam Rajashekharan and a Delhi-based middle man, Satish Nair, with regard to the scam.
It all began when R Shaji, Chairman of the SR Educational and Charitable Trust complained to the party that he had paid Rs 5.6 crore to RS Vinod, the former BJP convenor of the Cooperation Cell to obtain Medical Council of India (MCI) sanction for his medical college. He also said that Vinod later handed over the money to Satish Nair.
In the internal inquiry report by Sreesan and Nazeer, it was found that the money had indeed changed hands. However, the issue only turned into a controversy for the BJP when the report of the inquiry conducted in May, was leaked to the media in July.
(This article was initially published in The News Minute, and has been republished here with permission)
(Love your mother tongue? This Independence Day, tell The Quint why and how you love your bhasha. You may even win a BOL t-shirt! Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)