In an important development, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that 2,675 cases of corruption against him, six other ministers of his cabinet and several bureaucrats and police officials were pending in the office of the Lokayukta.
These include IAS officers Arvind Joshi and Yogiraj Sharma, both suspended after charges of massive corruption in water resources and health departments respectively. Another director of the health department, Ashok Sharma is also under the Lokayukta scanner.
In a written reply to Congress MLA Umang Singhar’s question, Mr. Chauhan admitted to cases of corruption in the Lokayukta against him, six ministers of his cabinet, four former ministers, two dozen IAS officers and four IPS officials including the former chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh Government Rakesh Sahni.
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Within the State cabinet, besides the Chief Minister, Lokayukta cases are also registered against ministers like Laxmikant Sharma (Culture), Anup Mishra (Health), Jayant Malaiya (Water resources, Housing and Environment), Kailash Vijayvargiya (Commerce and Industry), Ajay Vishnoi (Minority Welfare), Rajendra Shukla (Energy) and four former ministers-Akhand Pratap Singh, Himmat Kothari, Kamal Patel and Dilip Bhatere.