MP assembly debates MPPEB scam; BJP, Cong trade charges

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he felt deeply wounded when his wife's name was dragged into the scam by the Congress spokesperson

Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam took an ugly turn today in the state assembly when the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress traded charges of corruption and created spells of din. State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he felt deeply wounded when his wife's name was dragged into the scam by the Congress spokesperson.

"Ek Nirapradh Mahila Ko Aropo ki chakki me peesa jar aha hai (an innocent woman is being crushed under baseless allegations)," Chouhan said in the assembly while replying to adjournment motion moved by the Congress over discussion on the scam.

After expressing his pain he started reading out names of those government servants who were appointed by the previous Congress chief ministers after granting "relaxations in service rules." The debate continued till the filing of this report.

When Chouhan started reading out names of a Tiwari family the Congress member Sundarlal Tiwari and leader of opposition Satyadev Katare objected and requested him to answer questions they had raised point-wise and his answers should cover only Madhya Pradesh Professional Board Examination scam. To which BJP members raised objections and created pandemonium. The speaker urged the Congress members to listen to the chief ministers but they remained adamant and demanded they want chief minister to limit his answer only to the scam and announce a CBI probe. The Congress members staged sit-in protest near well of the House and demanded they only wanted Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and nothing less than that. The chief minister insisted that he would first finish his speech and then answer point-wise. But the Congress members refused to listen to him and kept on shouting slogans.

Katare raised some prominent issue that when special task force (STF) had admitted in the court that it was a multi-location scam then what was the difficulty with the state government to demand a CBI probe in the matter? He challenged the chief minister to table certificates of educational qualifications and police verification record of address verification in recruitment of transport constable if he wanted to prove his innocence. He also demanded that when High Court was monitoring the probe than what had necessitated the Chouhan to call a meeting of STF officials and state director general of police?

Earlier, in the morning when House assembled for question hour, Katare demanded debate under call attention motion. But the speaker said the Congress members had already moved an adjournment motion and hence the call attention motion had no significance. For the first time in history of state assembly members debated adjournment motion before question hour.

Earlier, Congress members Sundarlal Tiwari, Kamleshwar Patel, Jeetu Patwari made allegations of gross corruption, graft and faulty investigation in the matter. Defending their chief minister the BJP members including forest minister Gaurishankar Shejwar, Kailash Vijayvergiya and Yashpal Singh Sisodia and others said the STF probe was sufficient when High Court is monitoring it. "Only 0.001 percent of the candidates were getting through using unfair means and they are under investigation," said Gaur Shankar Shejwar. Chouhan could not complete his answer till the filing of this report.

Earlier this month, over 100 students who allegedly cleared the Pre-Medical Test (PMT) through unfair means were arrested by the Special Task Force from different districts of Madhya Pradesh in connection with the scam.

The PMT was conducted by MPPEB whose top officials were already arrested by STF since the scam surfaced in 2013. The STF, which is probing the matter had arrested former State Technical Education minister and BJP leader Laxmikant Sharma on June 15 for his alleged involvement in the contractual teachers recruitment scam. The contractual teachers examination too was conducted by the MPPEB.