Thiruvananthapuram: Forced on the political defensive by the medical college bribery allegation, the BJP on Thursday reacted with alacrity by sacking the leader directly involved in the graft and leaving no doubt that the party's state unit was fully aligned with the Modi government's anti-corruption stand.Following an internal probe, BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan expelled party's cooperative cell convenor R S Vinod from primary membership of the party. "The allegations against him are serious. By attracting graft charges, he has marred the party's anti-corruption image'', Kummanam said in a statement released to media on Thursday evening. Kummanam also appealed to the BJP central leadership to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations.Vinod, along with a couple of party accomplices, was accused of taking Rs 5.6 crore as bribe to pull strings in Delhi and obtain MCI recognition for the medical college. The bribery charge against Kerala BJP leaders rocked the Lok Sabha on Thursday after CPM and Congress MPs from the state raised the issue. Proceedings of the Lok Sabha had to be suspended more than once after the speaker denied permission to M B Rajesh and K C Venugopal to speak on the matter.The leak of the probe report to the media is widely seen as a fallout of the factional feud between the groups led by former state presidents V Muraleedharan and P K Krishnadas. Kerala BJP's state committee meeting on Saturday in Thiruvananthapuram is expected to take stern action against those responsible for the leak.Meanwhile, a vigilance probe has been ordered into graft allegations raised over the MCI approval for a medical college in Varkala. State police chief Loknath Behera, who also holds the charge of vigilance director, ordered the inquiry on the basis of a complaint from CPM leader A J Sukarno. P 5

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