Why is Uma Bharati raising a stink on Vyapam scam?

Union water resources minister Uma Bharati has dropped a bomb on the infamous Vyapam scam by targeting Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and demanding that his role should also be investigated into.

Speaking exclusively to India Today TV on July 6, the firebrand sadhvi has alleged that she is being deliberately targeted by the investigators and the same standards are not being applied to Chouhan. In a sensational statement, she said, "There is panic in Madhya Pradesh due to the deaths. I am scared for the lives of people connected to me. I am a minister but still I am scared. I will convey my fears to Chouhan," and reiterated her demand for a CBI inquiry into the scam.

It was on December 20, 2013 that Bharati, then a Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president, had for the first time pressed for a CBI probe. It was when her name appeared on the same day in newspapers linking her to the scam. It was alleged that she had made recommendations for 17 persons for jobs and admissions by unfair means through Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), commonly known as Vyapam due to its Hindi acronym.

The question is why Bharati is raising the issue after 18 long months. She had created a furore when her name had cropped up for the first time. So much so that the then DGP Nandan Dube rushed to her residence in Bhopal to pacify her and clarify that the Special Task Force (STF) probing the case had included her name only as one of the many references and not as an accused.

The former DGP may have tried to buy peace with her at that point of time by giving her a clean chit but the fact of the matter is that the same excel sheet on the basis of which former education minister Laxmikant Sharma and his officer on special duty OP Shukla were booked and are in jail, also has the names of Chouhan and Bharati.

Now that the scam has grabbed national attention due to deaths under mysterious circumstances of persons associated with it directly or remotely and appears to be engulfing Chouhan, Bharati feels this is the most opportune time to defend herself. She is trying to ensure that efforts are not made by her rivals to include her name too in the scam and thereby discredit her.

Like Chouhan, Bharati's political career is also at stake. Any form of indictment has the potential to end her career which she has revived with much toil and patience. Hence, besides defending herself, her posturing is also a tactic to create a pressure on the investigative agencies and the BJP's political leadership.

The Union minister is also preempting a situation when her name gets hyphenated with Chouhan in the scam. In such a situation, she might cry foul by saying that she is being victimised and that she was the first one to demand CBI inquiry. With everything on stake, Bharati, in a desperate move, seems to have chosen the timing to come clean.