MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan shares Jan Ashirwad Yatra stage with Vyapam scam tainted ex-minister

BHOPAL: In a significant political development in assembly poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan shared the stage with Vyapam scam-tainted ex-state minister Laxmikant Sharma in Vidisha district on Tuesday.

While the opposition Congress questioned about the CM sharing the stage with Sharma, who has already been charge-sheeted in Vyapam scam related cases by the CBI, the ruling BJP remained tight-lipped over the development.

Importantly, the stage pertained to none other but the ongoing statewide Jan Ashirwad Yatra of the BJP, which reached Sironj assembly constituency of Vidisha district. The Sironj seat was won by Sharma as a BJP candidate four consecutive times between 1993 and 2008, but he lost the seat to Congress’ Govardhan Upadhyaya by just 1500-votes in 2013 polls.

The CM sharing stage with the Vyapam tainted former MP minister Sharma, who is a powerful Brahmin leader of the Central MP region was enough to trigger speculations of BJP fielding, if not Sharma, then his sibling Umakant Sharma from the same assembly constituency – in a bid to pacify the resentment prevailing among the upper castes against the amended SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Chouhan was present on the stage along with his better half Sadhna Singh, the former minister Laxmikant Sharma and Bhopal mayor Alok Sharma, who is another important Brahmin leader of the region.

And the banner on the stage’s background had pictures of the CM, his wife and Laxmikant Sharma, speaking volumes about the growing clout of the ex-MP minister in region’s politics.

This is the second time within a month that Sharma has welcomed and met Chouhan (the former Lok Sabha member from Vidisha Lok Sabha seat) in Vidisha. Prior to that Sharma had welcomed the CM and accompanied him to Ganesh Temple on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi last month in Vidisha district only.

Sharma, the former higher and technical education minister of Madhya Pradesh was arrested in June 2014 by the MP STF, just six months after being booked in multiple cases of the multi-layered Vyapam scam. He quit the BJP the same month in 2014.

He was released from jail 18 months later after being granted bail by the MP High Court in December 2015. In January this year, the CBI charge-sheeted Sharma in the case pertaining to Contractual Teachers Eligibility Test (Grade III) 2011 that forms part of Vyapam scam related cases.

Reacting on the development, state Congress leader KK Mishra questioned about the CM sharing the stage of Jan Ashirwad Yatra with Sharma, but state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal refused to comment on the development.

Political circles are rife with speculations about the former BJP member Sharma either contesting the November 28 poll from Sironj seat as a BJP-supported independent candidate or the ruling party fielding his brother Umakant Sharma from the same seat.