RSS chief in Bhopal for Vyapam 'damage control'?

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has reached Madhya Pradesh, while BJP president Amit Shah will arrive on Monday, amid speculation about "damage control" over the recruitment scam that has hit the ruling BJP in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, on Saturday termed them "regular visits".

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Bhagwat reached Bhopal on Friday evening, and sources said he was likely to meet Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the recruitment scam in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam), following which over 40 people have died under mysterious circumstances.

Asked whether Shah will be discussing the Vyapam issue, Chouhan told reporters the visit by the BJP chief had noting to do with the matter.

On Bhagwat's visit, the chief minister said the RSS was a "cultural organisation" and his was a regular visit and also had no connection with the Vyapam issue.

The Supreme Court recently handed over the investigation into the scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It was earlier being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was reporting to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

RSS sources said that on Sunday, Bhagwat will meet leaders of Sangh-affiliated groups, and also take part in a coordination meeting of the RSS.

BJP's Madhya Pradesh chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan told reporters on Saturday that Shah will review the mass contact programme in the state as well as in Chhattisgarh.