Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, says he may sue the Congress leaders who have accused him of being part of a multi-crore swindle that involved officials accepting bribes in exchange for government jobs. "I am thinking about whether to take legal action. They have made allegations earlier... They have been proven untrue," said the politician to NDTV.
Mr Chouhan, 55, says the Congress' accusations are completely baseless and untrue, and prove how desperate the opposition is to regain power in the state he is ruling for a third consecutive term.
On Monday, Congress heavyweights from Madhya Pradesh, led by former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, demanded that the country's premier investigating agency, the CBI, probe an alleged cover-up to protect Mr Chouhan from being exposed for corruption. That is not necessary because a special task force is already investigating the case, said Mr Chouhan to NDTV.
The alleged scam is centred on the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, which administers tests to candidates for medical officers, constables, teachers and auditors within government departments. Mr Chouhan's party, the BJP, says that his determination to identify any wrong-doing led him to order an investigation when he received an anonymous complaint in 2013.
That investigation is being monitored by the Jabalpur High Court, which late last year dismissed a Congress petition demanding a CBI probe. The opposition Congress says Mr Chouhan and his administration are guilty of tampering with evidence that was collected by investigators. Mr Singh said that a hard drive seized by investigators was replaced, and that the Chief Minister was mentioned 48 times in an incriminating spreadsheet. Top Congress leaders say that to protect Mr Chouhan, his name was replaced with that of BJP leader Uma Bharti.