Congress to file complaint, move court over 'fake' NSUI leader video
The Congress on Saturday said it will file a police complaint and move the court over a “fake” video in which an NSUI leader purportedly claims that MP minister Vishvas Sarang had no role in the alleged nursing scam.
The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Sarang, who was the medical education minister in the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh when the alleged irregularities took place.
“The video is fake. We are going to lodge a police complaint and move the court regarding it,” MP Congress media chief Mukesh Nayak said at a press conference, with National Students’ Union of India leader Ravi Parmar by his side.
The state’s BJP media chief Ashish Agrawal had on Friday retweeted a video posted on X of what he called a “sting operation” on Parmar of the NSUI, the Congress’ student wing.
In the video, Parmar purportedly claims that officials were behind the nursing scam and Sarang had fallen victim to a conspiracy.
“Sarang has fallen prey to politics. He has not earned a single penny. The Congress and BJP leaders are gunning for him,” Parmar purportedly claims in the video.
As per the video, Parmar says that Sarang had picked up a quarrel with “Raja Saheb” (Congress leader Digvijaya Singh). Singh has told him to “settle scores” with Sarang, Parmar purportedly says in the video.
Sarang is currently the cooperative, sports and youth welfare minister in the Mohan Yadav government in the state.
Parmar called the video a ploy by the BJP to weaken the Congress’ protest demanding Sarang’s resignation.
State BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi said the so-called whistleblower (of nursing scam) has said in the video that Digvijaya Singh used him to defame the saffron party and Sarang.
“If the Congress has the guts, why was it quiet over the clip? It should lodge a complaint against the person who posted it on X, right away,” he said.
“Truth has finally prevailed in the matter and the Congress has got egg on its face,” Chaturvedi said.
The Congress has been protesting against the alleged nursing scam for over three months likening it to the Vyapam scam – an admission and recruitment racket – being probed by the CBI.
Two days ago, the Congress had tried to file a complaint against Sarang at the Ashoka Garden police station. Then, workers from the Congress and BJP came face-to-face and threw placards at one another.
“We are going to expose another scam of MP minister Vishvas Sarang in four days,” Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar had said then.
The Congress recently also protested during the budget session in the MP assembly over the alleged scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing alleged irregularities in the functioning of several nursing colleges, many of which lack infrastructure, had inspected 308 institutes across the state.
It gave a clean chit to 169 colleges, but the MP High Court on May 30 asked the central agency to reinspect these 169 colleges after it came to light that two CBI officials were held for allegedly taking bribes for some institutions for favourable reports.
The agency’s report, which was submitted in January this year, also stated that 73 colleges lacked infrastructure and 66 were unsuited.