"Scared" by number of deaths in Vyapam scam: Uma Bharti

New Delhi: Union Minister Uma Bharti on Monday said she is "scared" by the number of deaths associated with the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh and said there is "panic" in the state due to these deaths.

"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 CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan," Bharti, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was quoted as having told India Today TV.

Congress has claimed there have been 45 deaths in connection with the admission and recruitment scam since it broke out two years back.

The Water Resources Minister also said she was the first person to have suggested a CBI probe into the scandal.

"I was named in the FIR as per an accused's version. This is unfair. I am shocked that my name has been dragged into this. I was the first to suggest a CBI probe," she said.

Bharti also said she saw a "very deep conspiracy" in her name cropping up in the Vyapam scam and said people are succumbing to "shame and fear" caused by the scandal and that nobody was killing them.

"It is a very deep conspiracy. The biggest example of the deep conspiracy is that my name is in it. Because I am no way having to do anything with this. If I am there, then something very seriously is being conspired," Bharti told PTI.