Vyapam scam: MP CM cannot escape responsibility, says Congress

New Delhi, Jul 6: Stepping up its attack, Congress today said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cannot escape responsibility for the "45 deaths" connected to Vyapam scam and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take "moral responsibility".

"The Chief Minister cannot be spared. He should take responsibility," Congress spokesperson P C Chacko said here. His comments came after Dean of a medical college in Madhya Pradesh involved in Vyapam scam probe was found dead in a Delhi hotel yesterday in the second mysterious death in the scandal in as many days, adding yet another murky twist to the case.

Accusing External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia of helping "fugitive" Lalit Modi get travel and residence papers in UK, Chacko took potshots at Prime Minister. "Prime Minister should explain and take moral responsibility for what is happening in the country," he said.

addressing reporters at the Congress headquarters here. He added that the NDA government had offered a year back a corruption free and clean government, clean administration to the people.

"That very same government and the party which is leading this government are now totally under the cloud of scams and corruption. The Prime Minister has to come out and explain," he said.

Chacko said the Prime Minister is "finding less time to spend in India and to look after the problems in India". But he still owes responsibility to the people of India in view of the serious situation which has arisen today, he said. Insisting on a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam, Chacko there are serious allegations against people close to Chouhan besides the family itself.

"The CM should ask for a CBI probe into the matter if he feels that he is in the clear," Chacko said.

Terming the spate of deaths of people reportedly associated with 'Vyapam' as "extremely intriguing and deeply suspicious", Congress is demanding a Supreme Court-monitored CBI investigation into the alleged scam.

Calling the Vyapam the "most sinister scam of India", Congress has claimed that the mechanism of SIT-STF combine has proved ineffective in probing the matter.

PTI