BJP state leaders meeting over graft charges on partymen

Thiruvananthapuram: A meeting of the Kerala BJP core committee began here Saturday in the backdrop of Rs 5.6 crore graft allegations against a party functionary over the issue of grant of MCI clearance to a private medical college.

The alleged scam has also put some state leaders under a cloud.

Senior BJP leader, H Raja, state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, former state chief V Muraleedharan, former union minister and lone party MLA in the Kerala assembly O Rajagopal were among those taking part in the meeting.

The scam came to fore when the report of an internal committee, which probed the allegations, was allegedly leaked to the media.

Though the state leadership initially denied the allegations, saying they were "exaggerated and only rumours", later R S Vinod, convener of party's cooperative cell was expelled from the primary membership hours after the contents of the report, reportedly submitted to state party chief last month, surfaced in a section of media.

While the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala has said allegations were only a "tip of an iceberg" and that BJP had allegedly accepted money from 70 private medical colleges across the country for getting MCI clearance, Congress wanted a probe into "all dealings of state BJP leaders" after NDA rode to power at the centre.

Vigilance probe into the allegations has already begun.