Vyapam scam whistleblower Anand Rai to join Congress
Anand Rai, one of the three whistleblowers who exposed the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, will join the Congress party in Bhopal on Saturday. He was previously a member of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The scam surfaced in 2013 and involved unworthy candidates purportedly achieving high rankings by either using proxies to impersonate them in tests or by cheating. High-ranking officials allegedly helped enable the fraud in exchange for kickbacks.
Rai's journey from medical student to whistleblower
Rai first grew suspicious of possible corruption during his medical education at Indore's MGM College from 2003-2007. He observed that many of the top-performing students belonged to the same hostel block, even though some didn't attend classes or exams. His suspicions were confirmed in 2008 when he found a suitcase left by batchmate Jagdish Sagar, later identified as a key figure in the scam, containing Pre-Medical Test admission forms and photographs.
Rai's legal actions lead to high-profile arrests
After his post-graduation, Rai joined MGM College as a faculty and chose to take action against the corruption he had unearthed. In 2009, he complained to Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or Vyapam about irregularities in medical exams, and an investigation revealed 280 proxy candidates had impersonated actual candidates. His PIL in July 2013 led to SIT formation and later Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) involvement after a Supreme Court order.
Rai's legal battles and political journey
In 2015, Rai complained against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vikram Verma for allegedly using influence to get his daughter transferred to a Bhopal medical college. Rai was transferred from Indore to Dhar over this, which he challenged in court and was eventually canceled by the government. He was arrested in November 2022 over an alleged defamatory Facebook post against then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's Deputy Secretary Laxman Singh Markam but was granted bail by the SC last January.
