Those involved in MPPEB scam should not be spared, says Uma Bharti

Amid growing demand to hand over the MPPEB scam probe to CBI, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Sunday said the accused involved in the case should not be spared at any cost.

"I expect that the criminal (behind the Madhya Pradesh Professional Board Examination scam), howsoever powerful he may be, should not be spared," Bharti said in a statement in Bhopal.

Congress had earlier accused Bharti of being involved in the scam. The Congress had alleged that she had recommended names of candidates for contractual teacher exam conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

When her name cropped up in the scam in December 2013 in a section of media, she rushed back to Bhopal and met State Director General of Police (DGP) Nandan Dube on the issue. However, the Special Task Force probing the scam had later issued a statement clarifying that she had no role in it.

Bharti had earlier termed the scam as bigger than the fodder scam of Bihar and also demanded a CBI probe into it.

In a related development, Union Minister and state BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters, "Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will file a defamation suit against Congress chief spokesman KK Mishra for levelling baseless allegations against him in MPPEB scam."

Tomar said that if Congress has any evidence against the BJP leaders, then it should submit them in the court.

The state Congress spokesman provided a cell number claiming that it belongs to Chouhan's relatives and from this number 139 calls were made to MPPEB officials including the main accused Chief Exam Controller Pankaj Trivedi. However, he did not provide call details for the same.

Meanwhile, Congress had yesterday demanded a CBI probe into alleged MPPEB scam relating to use of fraudulent means in pre-medical tests and recruitment to various government services.