File Photo: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
After BJP veteran Shanta Kumar raised concerns over the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote a point-by-point rebuttal to Mr Kumar today, saying Vyapam was the propaganda of Congress, which was playing politics over scam-related deaths.
Mr Chouhan said there had been 31 Vyapam-related deaths between 2007 and 2015, and that all of them were accused in Vyapam related cases hence, no one stood to benefit from their deaths.
He said 15 of these deaths took place even before a first information report or FIR in the scam was registered on July 7, 2013 and remaining 16 occurred on account of either disease, accident or suicide.
"Of the 16 people who died after the FIR was registered, six deaths were disease-related, five were due to an accident, three due to suicide and the death of two is under investigation. Besides this, by connecting the deaths of five others - Dr D K Sakale, Arun Sharma, Ramakant Sharma, Akshay Singh, Anamika Khushwah, who are not related to Vyapam, an atmosphere of suspicion is being created," he said.
In his five-page letter, Mr Chouhan has apprised Mr Kumar of the realities of the scam and the initiatives taken by his government to expose it. He said even the recent Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI probe was ordered at his initiative.
Defending the Madhya Pradesh government in the matter, the chief minister added that the Special Investigation Team or SIT-monitored Special Task Force (STF) investigations into the Vyapam scam were also assessed as "fair" by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Accusing the Congress of politicising Vyapam-related deaths, an embattled Mr Chouhan said the STF itself had recorded the deaths of 23 people named as accused in the Vyapam scam.
Insisting that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the state government, Mr Chouhan went on to question the Congress' claims of "mischief" on Vyapam deaths saying "who would benefit from the death of an accused".
Former Himachal Chief Minister Shanta Kumar earlier wrote to party chief Amit Shah saying "reports of Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh have made all of us bow our heads in shame. Any Indian will be disappointed and distressed over the kind of stories being reported by the media."
The party, however, disassociated itself from Mr Kumar's view and snubbed him, saying he had fallen prey to Congress propaganda.