Representational imagePalakkad: After being rocked by the medical college scam, the Kerala unit of the BJP has been caught in another quagmire as massive irregularities have surfaced in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri 'Jan Aushadhi' scheme in the state.
It is alleged that party leaders have taken bribes amounting to Rs 4 lakh, disguised as ‘donations’, to sanction each Jan Aushadhi outlet, in violation of norms.
It is learnt that this complaint will be raised with the party state leadership in the coming days.
According to sources, the shady dealings took place without the knowledge of the state coordinator of the project. Agents, allegedly with the connivance of a state-level leader, demanded money to pull strings at higher levels in order to obtain permission for setting up outlets.
Some of the lower and middle-level leaders, who had been suspended from the party three years ago for indulging in anti-party activities, now work as agents after being reinstated recently, according to party sources.
Even a Malappuram-based BJP leader was told to pay money as a bribe to get sanction for opening a Jan Aushadhi shop, it is alleged.
Allegations of corruption in the Jan Aushadhi project was brought to attention of the BJP state leadership by a senior Pracharak at a high-level meeting of the RSS held in Ernakulam about four months ago. Following this, the leadership had put in place a system to monitor the implementation of the project before submitting a report to the Center in this regard.
Though some of the leaders had alerted in advance the state leadership about the seriousness of the allegations, the latter did not bother to look into the matter, creating ripples of dissent within the state unit.
A section of the state leaders and the RSS had warned the leadership that its complacency and soft approach towards the accused leader and his accomplices would mar the party's anti-corruption image.
The accused had tried to create an impression that the allegations surfaced as a fallout of the factional feud within the party state unit.
According to the leaders who are accused of accepting bribe, the charges against them were based on hearsay without any proof and blamed factional squabbles for being targeted.
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