Laxmikant Sharma kept dark Vyapam scam secrets, death mysterious: Madhya Pradesh Congress

BHOPAL: Former minister Laxmikant Sharma’s death has brought back the focus on the 2013 Vyapam Scam that rocked Madhya Pradesh with investigating agencies peeling layers and unravelling grisly details of admissions and recruitment in medical courses involving politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen.
“I know who the big players are. Come what may, I won't disclose the real names,” Sharma had said in an interview with TOI six years ago, before being detained by the state's special task force (STF) in connection with the scam.
Sharma had kept the closely guarded secrets in his heart, till his last breath on Monday. But his death gave fresh armament to Congress, which demanded inclusion of circumstances leading to his death in the CBI’s Vyapam Scam probe. The central investigation agency was preparing to file a charge sheet against Sharma in the sixth case later this week.
“His death is not normal. Why had he said that he was only a pawn in the scam and there is threat to his life? This is a mysterious death which should be included in the CBI probe,” Congress spokesperson K K Mishra tweeted.
Mishra said Sharma and two other members of his family got infected with Covid-19 after attending a wedding. “The two family members recovered. He died,” said the Congress leader.
Vyapam Scam had sent shivers down the spines of people involved in the scam. The former minister’s knowledge of intricacies and his silence had been keeping many on tenterhooks.
Congress party’s Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha condoled Sharma’s death and tweeted saying “…he saved the party by putting himself into trouble….”
In a 2015 TOI interview, Sharma broke down several times and said, “I am being targeted while the real kingpins remain untouched. I have worked for the party like a servant and this is what I got in return. I am a man in the real sense. I won’t name or blame anyone even if I am subjected to extreme torture.”
Asked if he had received kickbacks in the multi-crore recruitment scam, the former minister said: “If I knew there was so much money involved, I would have earned Rs 3 crore by now. If PEB scamsters were so loyal to me, then my daughter would not have failed in the medical entrance examination.”
The former minister had added: “I might have made political recommendations, but never asked anyone to do anything illegal.” Sharma’s arrest followed corroborative information retrieved from the hard disk of Vyapam’s former exam controller.
Sharma was arrested from his official residence at Bhopal on June 15, 2014, almost six months after the FIR. He got bail after spending 18 months in jail. CBI, which took over the scam probe from STF following the supreme court’s order, was set to charge-sheet him in the sixth case this week.
Sharma was hospitalised on May 12 with Covid-19 infection. On Monday, doctors certified him, minutes after a team of doctors from South India landed at Bhopal airport. He was cremated with state honours on Tuesday.
Vyapam scam whistleblowers say that they are unable to understand the government's decision of cremating Sharma with state honours given the way he was treated ever since he was arrested for his alleged role in the scam. “There should be an inquiry into the circumstances leading to Sharma’s death. He was holding on to the most secretive part of the Vyapam scam,” claimed Ashish Chaturvedi, the Gwalior based activist who was one of three key complainants in the scam.
Other two whistleblowers are Dr Anand Rai and IT consultant Prashant Pandey. All three had been receiving death threats.
From a modest background in Sironj in Vidisha district, Sharma wielded considerable clout and was considered one of most powerful ministers in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet, holding important portfolios of mineral resources, public relations, culture, technical and higher education in 10 years.
Much before his name was included in the Vyapam scam FIR, there were rumours that he harboured ambitions to become chief minister.
After Sharma’s first stint as minister from 2003 to 2008 when he was holding plum mineral resources department, he came close to RSS senior functionaries in Nagpur. He had lost his last assembly poll from Sironj by mere 1,500 votes.