New Delhi/Bhopal: Another set of Excel sheets related to the Vyapam scam have the names of candidates and their roll numbers, while another column lists “payment received and dues”. Speaking to a TV news channel, Union water resources minister Uma Bharti claimed that she was aware that her references “were being used”, and said she would now “write to the MP Chief Minister as I am really scared... what if something happens to candidates against whom (my) name has been mentioned?”
At the same time, she suspected “some foul play” as only she has been identified by name in the Excel sheet. Ms Bharti is a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, in a startling revelation, MP home minister Babulal Gaur told a TV channel that he has “been kept away from the Vyapam scam”. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition seeking the removal of Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav over his alleged involvement in the massive admission and recruitment scandal in the state.
With the BJP and the Narendra Modi government coming under fire over the Vyapam scam in the state, powerful Madhya Pradesh Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also party in-charge of West Bengal, met BJP chief Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday. Mr Vijavargiya has had to step down from his ministerial post after joining the BJP central unit as general secretary, but sources said his resignation is not being made official as the state Cabinet is yet to be reshuffled. Two other senior ministers in the state are also likely to be replaced.
The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are under tremendous pressure to remove the Chief Minister, Mr Chouhan, who has so far refused to hand over the Vyapam probe to the CBI despite the rising number of deaths. In Jhabua, Union home minister Rajnath Singh ruled out a CBI probe, saying the SIT was already investigating the charges under the supervision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. “We cannot direct the Supreme Court or the High Court,” he said when asked about the demands for a CBI probe.
Sources said that though the Prime Minister is maintaining stoic silence on the issue, the PMO has swung into action and has begun to take stock of the situation.
The Chief Minister, his wife, Governor Ram Naresh Yadav and Union minister Uma Bharti are among the top figures who are being accused by the Opposition of having alleged links to the scam.
The Opposition, particularly the Congress, Trinamool and CPM, on Monday demanded immediate action against Mr Chouhan. The TMC has said it would raise the matter in Parliament in the Monsoon Session, and has demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the scam. TMC supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee called the deaths in the Vyapam scam “cold-blooded murders”.
