Vyapam whistleblower Anand Rai joins Congress

Bhopal: Anand Rai, one of the whistleblowers who exposed the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, joined the Congress on Saturday.

MP Congress President Jitu Patwari welcomed Rai into the Congress in the presence of state in-charge Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and former minister Sajjan Singh Verma at the party office in Bhopal.

Rai joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in November last year and later resigned.

"Anand Rai has always worked for the people of Madhya Pradesh and was punished for raising his voice against tribal atrocities. I welcome him in the Congress family," Jitu Patwari said.

Anand Rai played a crucial role in exposing the irregularities in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), also known as Vyapam.

Taking to social media platform X, Patwari said that he heartily welcomes Rai for his courage and contribution in the fight for truth.

Patwari said that together (with Rai), they would strengthen the fight against corruption.

Rai had filed a PIL in the Madhya Pradesh High Court demanding a thorough investigation into the irregularities in 2013. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015. The investigations resulted in the arrest of several high-profile politicians, including the state's former Education Minister.

In 2015, Rai filed a complaint against senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Vikram Verma, alleging that the latter had used his influence for the transfer of his daughter from a medical college in Ghaziabad to an educational institution in Bhopal.

Rai, a government servant, was transferred from Indore to Dhar, which he challenged in court.

In November 2022, Rai was booked under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act over an alleged defamatory social media post against the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's Deputy Secretary Laxman Singh Markam.