Cong demands judicial inquiry into corruption case against HP health dept official

The Congress on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into an alleged corruption case against a Himachal Pradesh health department official. Health Services Director Ajay Kumar Gupta was arrested on May 20 by the State Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau after a 43-second audio recording went viral, in which he purportedly asks the other person for a bribe of Rs 5 lakh.

Kangra district Congress president and former legislator Ajay Mahajan and other party leaders submitted a memorandum to the governor through the Kangra district magistrate here, requesting a judicial inquiry into the "health scam" "The people of the country are facing a crisis in the shape of the coronavirus pandemic. At such a time, a scandal has taken place in the health department under the nose of the state government," party state general secretary Kewal Singh Pathania said. "Why the state (BJP) president only has to resign when the head of the government is not taking responsibility. It shows that somewhere there are strings of scams that are associated with BJP leaders," he said.

State BJP president Rajeev Bindal had resigned from his post on Wednesday within four-and-a-half months of his appointment, saying he was doing so to ensure a proper investigation into the case of alleged corruption by the health department official. In a resignation letter sent to BJP president J P Nadda, Bindal said he was tendering his resignation on high moral grounds as some people were dragging the party's name in the alleged corruption case..