Rattled Chouhan to push for CBI probe into Vyapam scam

At a hurriedly convened press conference on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state government was ready for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the Vyapam scam, adding it would tell the high court so.

Till two days ago, the CM had said as an investigation into the scam was being monitored by the high court, he couldn’t refer the matter to any other authority, unless ordered to do so by the court. On Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also said as the matter was court-monitored, the CBI could investigate it only when directed by the court.

Chouhan might have been pressured to concede ground after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, as well as others. The plea urged the apex court to issue an order to the state government to refer the matter to the CBI, as the state government machinery was trying to protect top political authorities.

Some BJP leaders have openly said given the damage to the BJP due to the perception that many in the state government were involved in the Vyapam scam, the matter should be referred to the CBI. Two days ago, spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao had said the party was ready for any kind of inquiry, including by the CBI. On Monday, Union Minister Uma Bharti said she feared for her life because at one stage, her unverified signature on a list of those recommended for recruitment had been produced by the police. Her unstated criticism was the state government was unable to investigate the matter properly.

Bharti was Madhya Pradesh CM before being replaced by Chouhan.

Monday’s press conference was called at an hour’s notice, soon after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the opposition’s petition. At the conference, the usually phlegmatic Chouhan appeared to be distracted and disturbed, at one stage even confessing he hadn’t slept at all last night.

Sensing the CM was rattled, the Opposition upped the ante and said a mere CBI inquiry wasn’t enough; it would press for a Supreme Court-monitored CBI inquiry. The apex court will hear the matter on Thursday. Whether Chouhan acted on his own in seeking a CBI inquiry or was asked to do so by the BJP isn’t clear. However, he confessed he was seeking a CBI inquiry because of the pressure of the people (“janata ke dabav ke kaaran”). The decision to refer the matter to the CBI is the clearest signal that the special task force (STF) that reports to the court on the investigation, as well as the local police, hasn't done an adequate job.

Meanwhile, PTI reported the Congress on Tuesday called for a bandh in Madhya Pradesh on July 16 to press for a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the deaths of people linked to the Vyapam scam. The Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering probe into the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh is “on track”, the agency’s chief Rajan Katoch said, according to PTI.