Himachal BJP chief Bindal resigns after health dept corruption probe

Shimla: Succumbing to public pressure and opposition tirade, Himachal Pradesh BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal resigned from his post here on Wednesday citing 'moral grounds'.

Dr Bindal, a former Speaker, who had taken over as the party chief only for months back, found himself on the dock after an audio clip of a 43-second conversation between Director Health Services Dr Ajay Gupta and business dealing in PPE kits had surfaced.

Dr Gupta was arrested by the state Vigilance and Anti-Corrusaidon Bureau within a few hours of the audio clip becoming public. He was heard asking for Rs 5 lakh from the supplier, who hailed from Sirmaur district.

As the Health portfolio happens to be with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, it was his own image at stake that prompted him to act tough before the Congress opposition dragged the BJP and the government into an unsavoury corruption tangle.

In addition to the bribery charges against Dr Gupta, it was Dr Bindal who had come under clouds with the opposition seeing the role of 'high ranking' BJP leaders in the purchases being done by the health department out of the COVID fund.

Media reports later pointed out that the people Dr Gupta had purportedly sought the bribe from had alleged links with Dr Bindal's business ventures.

Significantly, some within the BJP had also forwarded a complaint to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) asking for an independent probe into bribery allegations which would severely dent the party's image in the state.

Veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar also launched a scathing attack terming it as shameful how a MNREGA worker –a woman had donated Rs 5000 out of her savings to the COVID fund that was being squandered away, and pocketed by the corrupts.

Insiders say Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur gave clear orders to Additional DGP (Vigilance) Anurag Garg to get cracking against those involved in the bribery case or irregularities in the medical purchases during the pandemic.

On Tuesday he proposed to fly to Delhi to meet Home Minister Amit Shah but was told to stay back.

Meanwhile Dr Bindal was apparently told to step down from his party position to enable the Chief Minister to get the matter probed impartially.

Dr Bindal said, "There has been a crude and repeated attempts, for past some days, to link the medical purchase scam and arrest of Director Health Services with the BJP indirectly. It's utterly unfair and preposterous. Though, the matter has no links with the BJP yet, I have decided to resign from the party post on moral grounds, and have sent my resignation to national BJP president J P Nadda ji" he declared at the party headquarters here.

He said, "All we want is a free and fair probe into the alleged corrusaidon without any pressures."

Many see this development as the beginning of a political storm in the BJP as Dr Bindal was seen as Nadda's choice for the party post.This had made the Chief Minister a bit uncomfortable owing to Dr Bindal's own ambitions to rise up the political ladder and position himself in the front-line with Jai Ram Thakur.

Opposition asks for HC-monitored probe

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said nothing less than a probe by a sitting high court judge was acceptable as purchases done out of the COVID fund, and corrusaidon in it, should be investigated in depth. "Resignation by Dr Bindal is just face saving, not a logical end" he said.