Cong, BJP in war of words over CBI clean chit to MP CM in Vyapam case
The CBI’s clean chit to Madhya Pradesh chief minister in the Vyapam scam case sparked a political war of words on Wednesday with the Congress dubbing the probe agency as a “Compromise Bureau of Investigation” and the BJP accusing the rival party of seeking “political benefits”.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also took a jibe at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), alleging charges against Shivraj Singh Chouhan have gone into the dustbin as part of ‘Swachh Bharat abhiyan’ even as the chief minister said since he had done nothing wrong, he was bound to get a clean chit, reports PTI.
“I was clean, so a clean chit was inevitable,” Chouhan told reporters in Bhopal. The Congress also alleged that CBI’s investigating officers “tampered” the hard disc of a computer seized from an accused in the case which, the party claimed, carried reference to the chief minister and several ministers. Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the party would move a court against the CBI and its officers.
“The CBI has many names and after what the CBI has said on Vyapam, its name now is Compromise Bureau of Investigation,” Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters in Delhi.
Sibal, accompanied by party leaders Vivek Tankha and KTS Tulsi, said the Congress would support the whistleblowers in the case and would “investigate the investigator”.
“It is unfortunate... in a country where investigative agency works one-sided and flouts the rule of law, what will happen to democracy there, one should think,” Sibal said.
Sibal accused the CBI of “tampering” with the seized hard disc.
“Naitikta gayi kudedaan, Jai Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan (Morality has gone into the dustbin, hail Clean India campaign),” Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
He also attached the news report citing the clean chit given by the CBI to Chouhan in the Vyapam case.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against 490 persons in the multi-crore Vyapam admissions scam in Madhya Pradesh in 2013.
BJP termed as “baseless” and “politically motivated” allegations by the Congress that the CBI clean chit to Chouhan in the Vyapam case was based on evidence, which was tampered with.
BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said the Congress had levelled similar charges against Chouhan earlier too, and they had been “discredited”. It has raked up the issue again for “political benefits”, he said.
“The Congress party’s allegations against the chargesheet submitted in the Supreme Court in the Vyapam case and its allegations against the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are completely baseless and politically motivated. The Congress party is recycling its old lies in the mistaken hope that this will politically benefit them,” Rao said.
He said Congress’ attack against the CBI stemmed from the fact that the agency’s chargesheet was not “politically conveninent” for the party.
“I was clean, so a clean chit was inevitable. In public life, allegations are levelled, but they should be based on facts. Such (baseless) charges pain the person. I am not worried much, as I was relieved from the beginning,” Chouhan told reporters in Bhopal.