Himachal BJP Chief Resigns Amid Health Corruption Scandal

LEAVING THE ruling BJP red-faced in Himachal Pradesh, the party’s state president, Dr Rajeev Bindal, resigned from the post Wednesday, “on the basis of high moral grounds”, amid a corruption probe into the procurement of medical supplies by the government for the Covid pandemic.

Bindal, 65, was Speaker of the State Assembly until January, when he was picked by BJP national president J P Nadda to head the party in the state. His resignation comes a week after the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau arrested the director of health services, Dr A K Gupta, following a probe into an audio clip in which two men are purportedly heard discussing the handover of Rs 5 lakh.

The 43-second clip had led the Opposition Congress to target the government, with the party’s state in-charge Rajni Patil alleging that the person heard “offering the bribe” is a “ruling party leader”.