Zee Media Bureau/ Deepak Nagpal
Bhopal: After becoming one of BJP`s poster boys, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh – Shivraj Singh Chouhan – is fighting graft taint for the first time in 10 years.
Chouhan, who has been the CM for over a decade, and his family has been accused of corruption by the opposition Congress.
The opposition last week claimed that Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh were involved in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam. The MPPEB conducts entrance and recruitment tests for admission in medical and engineering courses, and selection in certain government services, among others.
The opposition has alleged that as per an audit carried out by the Madhya Pradesh Local Fund Audit office for 2007-08, a difference of about Rs 4 crore was detected in revenue earned from sales of application forms by the MPPEB or `Vyapam`.
Yesterday, Congress levelled fresh allegations against Chouhan, claiming his direct involvement in the MP Public Service Commission (PSC) scam.
Congress`s leader of opposition Satyadev Katare told a press conference yesterday that the MP CM had got the PSC rules changed in order to appoint his niece, Ritu Chouhan, as deputy collector.
"This time we are not accusing the chief minister`s wife, but Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself for irregularities. He has to resign and if he doesn`t, then the Governor should ask for his resignation," Katare said.
Chouhan, meanwhile, has filed a defamation case against MP Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra over the allegations he had made on Saturday.
The CM also made a hurried visit to New Delhi yesterday to speak to the party brass and explain his position.
Chouhan held a long meeting with Union minister Nitin Gadkari and also met RSS functionaries and other senior BJP leaders.
The BJP, meanwhile, said that the meeting was routine one and nothing more should be read into it.
