Vyapam scam: As CM Chouhan runs for cover, those rooting for his head are inside BJP

Why are we getting shocked by deaths in the Vyapam scam? It is just a symbol of the Indian justice system where people often die during investigations into controversial cases. A few years ago, the death count in the Uttar Pradesh NRHM scandal had given rise to allegations of foul play and criminal conspiracies. Till February 2012, six persons related to the multi-crore rural health mission scam of the UP government had been killed. [caption id=“attachment_2332242” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan. AFP[/caption] Before that, the main accused in the Ajmer Dargah blasts, Sunil Joshi, was found dead under mysterious circumstances near Godhra. The most recent incident of witnesses disappearing in the middle of a trial involves Asaram Sirumalani (also known as ‘Bapu’) and his son. While a probe is still on into allegations of sexual assault against Asaram and his son, at least two key witnesses have been allegedly killed and several other have been assaulted. So, the trail of deaths in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, Vyapam, scam is not a new phenomena. In the absence of a witness protection programme, because of the slow pace of investigation and the involvement of powerful politicians, deaths of people related to an investigations isn’t uncommon. Once the initial noise dies, the drama begins to fade and the media loses interest, most of these cases are forgotten and the truth is never discovered. Just as we do not know the culprits behind the murder of people linked to the NRHM scam and the Ajmer blast, it is possible that we may never get to the real cause of the suspicious deaths of nearly two dozen people–witnesses, accused and journalists–in the Vyapam scam. Will the CBI be able to get to the truth? The agency has already started complaining about the lack of staff and infrastructure to deal with such a huge scam. Moreover, the Vyapam scam is almost two years old now (it broke in 2013). The agency will have a tough job piecing together evidence that has already been handled first by the Madhya Pradesh crime branch and later by the special task force and the special investigation team. The CBI will face a tough challenge. Whatever be the outcome. But, it would be difficult for MP Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to get rid of accusations of foul play and cover-up in the scam. His role and responsibility are clearly outlined. Contrary to the BJP’s claim that the current scam in admissions and recruitment dates back to the pre-BJP era, the fact is that Vyapam is a brainchild of the Chouhan government. Though the PEB came into existence in 1970, it was back then responsible for conducting the entrance exams for medical colleges. In the 80s, the PEB was assigned the responsibility of organising the pre-engineering tests too. But Vyapam’s clout grew under Chouhan’s BJP government when he reconstituted Vyapam and gave it powers to not only conduct entrance exams for medical and dental colleges but also for recruitment tests for most of the non-gazetted posts. Between 2007 and 2013, nearly 80 lakh students and job applicants appeared for exams conducted by Vyapam. Though the Vyapam was under the ministry of technical education, whose former head Lakshmikant Shukla is in jail as one of the main accused, Chouhan himself was in charge of medical education between 2008 and 2012. In 2009, when charges of bungling in the pre-medical tests first surfaced in the Assembly by independent MLA Paras Saklecha, Chouhan agreed to set up a committee to look into the scam. For a long time the committee did nothing. It submitted its first report in 2011, saying that 114 students had entered medical colleges through fraud and they be thrown out. But the government sat on the report. It acted on this report only after the Vyapam scam broke in 2013. Clearly, Chouhan was guilty of not acting on time. The current scam trail leads to the CM office. According to the investigating agencies, Chouhan’s private secretary Prem Prasad got his daughter admitted to a medical college by unfair means. Prasad is currently out on bail. The Congress has often alleged that recruitments of constables in the MP transport department were rigged by Vyapam officials under instructions from his close relatives. The CM has denied the allegation. But, curiously, this particular exam has still not been probed by the special task force investigating the scam. Chouhan needs to come clean on various allegations. His discomfort has made many of his oppoenents sense an opportunity. On Monday, his predecessor Uma Bharti launched a veiled attack on Chouhan when she said that there was palpable fear among those connected to the Vyapam probe. Bharati also pointed out that she was the first to seek a CBI probe into the scam, suggesting that Chouhan should accept the opposition’s demand for handing over the investigations to the Central agency. “There is panic in Madhya Pradesh due to the deaths. I am scared for the lives of people connected to me. I am a minister, but still I am scared. I will convey my fears to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. I suspect a big conspiracy,” Uma Bharti told India Today TV channel. Bharti would be watching the Vyapam story carefully. Several years ago, she was replaced as CM of the state in 2004, had fought with the high command for her rehabilitation and Chouhan’s removal. The Vyapam scam might just be the revenge she may have been seeking for her political death.