Vyapam scam probe expected to haunt BJP leaders, ex-ministers: report

Bhopal: The probe into Vyapam Scam that rocked Madhya Pradesh for long is set to trouble leaders across the state's political spectrum.

Temperature will rise over the probe into the Professional Examination Board (Vyapam) scam as it is expected to affect many BJP leaders and former ministers.

The Vyapam scam has been in the limelight since the last decade with the death of more than 50 people linked to it and more than 2,000 being jailed.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with the Special Task Force (STF) has been probing the matter.

Many leaders associated with the Congress, the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have come under the scanner in this case.

Leaders of both the political parties, along with former minister Lakshmikant Sharma and two office-bearers of the RSS have been jailed in the case.

In the complaint given by former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on October 6, 2014, the STF had registered a case against eight students enrolled in the medical college.

It took around eight years for the STF to register the case which has raised questions on the timing of the FIRs.

Singh, in his complaint said that in the examinations conducted by Vyapam after 2006, people colluded with its officials, MP government ministers and senior BJP leaders to get financial benefits.

He added that the scam was perpetrated with the direct and indirect connivance of the leaders.

Singh's complaint states that possibilities of fraudulent admission existed with some students' residential address being identical, with cases of students passing Classes 10 and 12 from the Uttar Pradesh Board and their MP domicile certificate being doubtful.

Along with this, differences were also observed in the photo affixed to the exam form and in the one affixed during seat allotment.

The probe revealed that the accused students made imposters sit in the exams of 2008-09 and procured admission in Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, through the same.

It is being speculated that many BJP leaders and the names of those holding influential posts will also come up in the probe.

Political analysts believe that the complaint registered before the assembly elections to be held in 2024, will be used for political gains.

The content of the FIR has raised apprehensions of its large impact on the state's politics.