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Senior BJP leader and former union minister Shanta Kumar

New Delhi:  As the BJP preps for a stormy monsoon session of Parliament, closing ranks around its chief ministers and ministers caught in controversies, an 80-year-old lawmaker has caused the ruling party embarrassment by dashing off a stern letter to its chief Amit Shah.

 Shanta Kumar, lawmaker from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, has warned that recent controversies have dented the party’s image and said it must set up an "ethics committee to act like a Lokpal to root out corruption."

Mr Kumar says in his letter that the Vyapam recruitment scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has "made us all bow our heads in shame."

 He also refers to Rajasthan and Maharashtra, when he suggests the need for a "Lokpal" to "keep a check on leaders in government," without mentioning Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje being caught in the Lalit Modi scandal, or Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde being accused by the opposition of a scam.

 Shanta Kumar, who was a union minister in the BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, wrote the letter on July 10, but posted it on Facebook just a day before the crucial monsoon session begins.

 He is the first BJP leader to publicly go against the line of the party, which has stoutly defended its ministers and has, in a series of meetings since Sunday, decided that it will aggressively counter the opposition’s attack on them.

 The opposition wants the BJP’s ministers and chief ministers accused of scams and controversies to be investigated. The Congress has warned that Parliament will see frequent disruptions if they do not resign.

 Its chief targets are Ms Raje and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping disgraced cricket boss Lalit Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, besieged by the Vyapam scam. But it has also targeted union education minister Smriti Irani, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Ms Munde over other controversies.

 The BJP has said there will be no resignations.