Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday came out in support of his Cabinet Minister Kedar Kashyap, who was embroiled in a controversy after his wife was found to be using a proxy candidate to write an exam.
When some reporters asked him if he would ask Mr. Kashyap to resign over the controversy, Mr. Singh said, “The Minister was not giving the exam. There is no question of his resignation.”
“The Vice-Chancellor [of Pt. Sundarlal Sharma Open University] has sent a two-member team to Lohandiguda to enquire into the incident. Further action will be taken once the enquiry team submits its report. There is no question of shielding anyone,” Mr. Singh said.
Vice-Chancellor Bansh Gopal Singh denied that the exam authorities were hand in glove with the Minister’s wife in using a proxy candidate for the M.A. English exam.
“Mr. Kedar Kashyap is a Minister of School Education and not Higher Education. There is no question of him influencing our university officials. However, the inquiry team will find out if the officials present at the exam centre were involved,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu .
“If it is proved that the candidate [Ms. Kashyap] used a proxy candidate to write her exam, then a police complaint would be lodged against her,” he added.
Meanwhile, the proxy candidate, who was writing the exam for Ms. Shanti Kashyap, has been identified as Kiran Mourya, who works as a nurse in a government hospital in Bhanpuri town. Kiran Mourya has gone missing after the incident.
