Shivraj Singh Chouhan must resign: Congress

The Congress on Friday demanded Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's resignation following the Supreme Court's directive transferring the probe into the Vyapam scam to the CBI.

"We demand that the CBI should also probe the agencies which had been investigating the scam so far and the party would not accept less than the chief minister's resignation," Congress general secretary and Madhya Pradesh in-charge Mohan Prakash said.

The state's special task force (STF) had turned "extortion force" and there have been reports where this probe agency was blamed for harassing people, he added.

Prakash also charged Chouhan with contempt of court for saying after the apex court's directive for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe that if he wanted "such a probe would not have been possible".

The Congress' resolve to hold a statewide bandh (shutdown) remains as it is, he added.

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the CBI to probe the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh including the over 40 deaths linked to it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed the ruling.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu handed over the probe to the CBI after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that he has instructions from the Madhya Pradesh government to let the CBI take charge of the sensational case.

The Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal scam came to light in 2013 and has since assumed mind-boggling proportions, leading to the arrest of nearly 2,100 people.