Media headlines for past couple of days have been dominated by the scam in Madhya Pradesh professional examination board (MPPEB) popular known by its Hindi acronym “VYAPAM”. VYAPAM is not a new scam. In fact the first FIR regarding irregularities in VYAPAM was registered 15 years back in the year 2000. Since then multiple incidents have been reported. In year 2009 major complaints surfaced in the pre-medical test (PMT) and the investigation was initiated by the state government to look into the matter. By the end of 2011, hundreds of people were arrested in the VYAPAM scam. Looking into the magnitude and scale of the matter, State government in 2012 constituted a Special Task Force (STF) to investigate the matter. Few members from the opposition then approached the High Court to intervene in the matter. High Court then constituted a SIT (Special investigation team) to monitor the probe conducted by STF. STF so far has arrested more than 2000 people including IAS, IPS officers, businessman and very influential cabinet minister in MP govt. in 2014. FIR was even filed against the Governor of Madhya Pradesh which was later quashed by the Jabalpur high court giving him immunity till he holds the office.

Congress also went to High Court to demand CBI probe into the matter which was rejected by the court. Then an appeal was made in the Supreme Court which was rejected by the Supreme Court stating that probe under the monitoring of High Court is completely free and fair and there is no reason to be suspicious about the probe. So the argument that enquiry is not free and fair does not hold any ground. In fact this is one of the most extensive investigations of any scam in recent history. Another allegation that this scam came into existence during BJP regime is also far from truth as the first FIR was registered way back in 2000 much before BJP came into power in MP.

When both courts rejected the demand, Congress came up with an excel sheet alleging that it was the original excel sheet and it contains the name of the Chief Minister in a clear attempt to implicate Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This excel sheet was rejected by the High Court stating that this is a forged document presented before the court with an intention to derail and deviate the investigation.

Is the recent outrage about VYAPAM scam or deaths allegedly associated with it about credibility of probe or is there a larger political conspiracy? All whistle blowers in this case are Congress supporters and Advocates fighting this case on behalf of whistle blowers are Congress leaders. Congress in the recent municipal elections has lost all 14 major municipal corporations for the first time in the history of the state. In MP, Congress faces major existential crisis. One of the reasons for the debacle of Congress is attributed to the quality of governance and popularity of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. State has registered double digit growth for past many years and agriculture growth rate is at whopping 22% which is highest in India. As I argued in my last article when Lalit gate came into picture that an economically prosperous government means political death for Congress and same is true for MP. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is a third time Chief Minister and a very popular political leader across party lines, Member of BJP parliamentary board and considered to be one of the most progressive chief ministers in the country. No wonder Congress is trying to implicate the CM in any and every possible way. Just for the record this is not the first time such allegations have been made against the CM but none of them have been proven or even remotely established in any court of law.

Last week sudden death of India Today reporter investigating the case and few other abnormal deaths of people related to the case has brought focus back to VYPAM and  has given  opportunity to the opposition to attack the CM. The first demand that was made by media and opposition regarding death of the journalist was that viscera samples must be sent to AIIMS to establish the exact reason of death. That demand was met immediately by the government but opposition was not satisfied. The next demand of the opposition was to demand CBI probe. This is a very interesting demand. Mostly a court monitored probe by the SIT is considered to be more credible then any agency of the government. Also since BJP is ruling the Centre and CBI falls under the Central government why would Congress not trust the court but an agency under BJP government? Well as I have mentioned above that opposition is not concerned about the scam or deaths but their real motive is to keep the issue alive without getting to the bottom of the scam. Handing the probe to CBI also gives them an opportunity to target the Central government. As there are no allegations against the CM and not even an iota of evidence against his family CM will come clean after the CBI probe. Then Congress will start crying foul about CBI and allege that it is influenced by the Central government.

Shivraj Chouhan  bowing to public and media pressure now has agreed for the CBI investigation and said  that he wants the  environment of suspicion to be cleared. Much to the chagrin of the Congress, CBI probe may actually end up restoring credibility of his administration, clear all doubts and may actually result in increase of his already very high public approval rating. Finally CBI will be able to untie the remaining knots of this very murky scam which in the real world beyond political machinations has put future of many bright students in doubt and suspicion.

By Nitendra Raghuvanshi