Ministers facing criminal charges in poll fray

Bhopal: At least eight Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers of the outgoing Madhya Pradesh government who face criminal charges are contesting the forthcoming assembly elections. The list includes Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Other ministers in the fray, who are facing criminal charges, include Tourism Minister Tukoji Rao Puar, Revenue Minister Kamal Patel, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Chaudhary Chandrabhan Singh, Education Minister Narottam Mishra, Minister of State for Fisheries Moti Kashyap and Forest Minister Vijay Shah.

The list also includes former health minister Ajay Vishnoi. Cases against some of these ministers are pending with the state government's ombudsman, called the Lokayukta.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been accused in the June 2007 dumper purchase case, of favouring a business house in return for personal favours. Four dumpers were bought by a business house, allegedly in the name of Chouhan's wife Sadhna Singh. Later, she reportedly sold it back to the same company.

It was alleged that Sadhna Singh mentioned her husband's name as S.R. Singh, instead of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She also reportedly said she was a resident of Jaypee Nagar, Rewa, though neither the chief minister nor his wife has a house in Rewa. The case is now pending with the Lokayukta.

In the case of PWD Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India had made several corruption charges, including fraudulent spending of several millions of rupees on the Simhast Mela in 2004.

Another charge against him pertains to the period when he was mayor of Indore. Now known as the pension scam, it was alleged that pensions were disbursed to non-existent beneficiaries. A commission constituted by the state government is looking into the matter.

Revenue Minister Kamal Patel is under the scanner for the alleged misdeeds of his son, being allegations of his murdering the son of a Congress leader.