Defending Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over Vyapam scam, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday said there was no need for Chouhan to resign over the scandal, which, he alleged, was being fanned by the Congress to tarnish his image.Tomar said, "There is no need for Shivrajji to resign. The Congress is trying to tarnish his image over Vyapam scam by a false campaign for political reasons. It won't succeed in maligning his image."He said that as soon as Shivraj Singh Chouhan got to know about the Vyapam scam on July 7, 2013, he went for a fair probe into it. He formed the Special Task Force (STF) to investigate the matter on August 24, 2013, the Union Steel and Mines Minister said.The MP High Court monitored the STF probe and the State Government had no say whatsoever in it before the CBI appeared in the picture, following the apex court's order of last week, Tomar said.The STF made 2,638 people accused in the scam. Of them, more than 2,000 were arrested, he said, adding that more than 300 accused are still in the jails of Madhya Pradesh. The Congress is running a false campaign since a long time.
"Public had rejected our opponents many times, including the last Assembly and lok Sabha elections," he said.The Congress is now exaggerating and running a false campaign to sully the image of Chouhan over Vyapam scam once again, Tomar alleged. The Vyapam scam was very unfortunate and the deaths related to it were saddening. "The MP police had already started the probe into it which now the CBI will do," he said.Under the leadership of Chouhan, the State has scaled newer heights and has come out of the BIMARU tag. The GDP and agriculture growth rate of MP has gone up manifold, he added.The CBI has started probing the massive rigging of examinations for jobs and admission to various educational institutions, including medical colleges, conducted by the MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), also known as Vyapam.