Maha Vyapam scam in Gujarat; 10-year jail if AAP comes to power: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday (August 23) claimed a “Maha Vyapam scam” in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat, wherein question papers of the state government recruitment examinations have been leaked over the years.

He promised a law against the paper leak with a provision of ten year jail if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is voted to power in the Assembly elections due later this year.

“Did anybody go to jail for leaking papers? They will now go to jail (when AAP forms a government). Madhya Pradesh had the Vyapam scam. In Gujarat, a Maha Vyapam scam is going on,” Kejriwal alleged while addressing a town hall meeting of youth at Bhavnagar on the second day of his two-day visit to Gujarat.

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The Vyapam scam was an entrance examination, admission and recruitment scam unearthed in Madhya Pradesh, also ruled by the BJP, in 2013. The scam is called “Vyapam” which is the Hindi acronym of the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board.

“They made the CBI conduct raids on Manish Sisodia (Delhi Deputy CM) based on a false case even when he did nothing wrong, but no CBI raid was conducted against those involved in leaking the (government exam) papers (in Gujarat). Why? Because people behind the paper leak are their own,” the AAP national convener asked. Sisodia was also present at the event.

The Vyapam scam allegedly involved candidates and job aspirants, government officials, and some politicians wherein imposters wrote answer papers. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation following a Supreme Court order in 2015.

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Kejriwal listed several cases of the paper leak that have been reported in Gujarat since 2015 and asked whether the BJP government felt ashamed. “They cant conduct exams, how will they run the government?” he asked.

The AAP leader promised stringent action against perpetrators if voted to power.

“If the AAP forms a government in Gujarat, it will come out with a law against the paper leak with a provision of 10 years jail. We will also reopen the paper leak cases after 2015. The inquiry will be conducted and all found guilty will be sent to jail. Beware of leaking the paper after December (elections),” he said.

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Kejriwal claimed a minister in Gujarat had said that the preference in government jobs would be given to those from the ruling party. “Do government jobs belong to your father? Government jobs do not belong to any party but to Gujarat’s youth. We will conduct recruitment transparently and change the process,” he said.

Kejriwal reiterated AAP’s promise to create 15 lakh jobs and employment for every youth in Gujarat in the next five years. He said that AAP has prepared a recruitment calendar wherein posts of Talathi, teachers, sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors will be filled within the first year of the AAP forming the government.

(With inputs from agencies)