In view of the special nature of the session, its importance and objective, the chief minister had called on the President Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil and requested her to address the assembly. The chief minister, apparently, was given to understand that the President had conceded his request and had agreed to address the special session. However, subsequently, she expressed her inability to make the address. It is being alleged that the main opposition Congress mounted pressure on the President to give up the idea of coming to Bhopal.

From the very beginning, the Congress was opposed to the idea of a special session. The Congress was of the view that the special session was being convened just to distract the people's attention from the problems of their everyday lives and also from the embarrassment, which the government is facing due to the exposure of the involvement of top officers and senior ministers in cases of corruption.

The top among them is the controversial minister for industries Kailash Vijayvargiya. Fresh charges of corruption are being leveled against him almost daily. Every day, newspapers are full of sensational stories, disclosing Vijayvargiya's involvement in this or that deal, smacking of corruption. Not only the opposition parties but even the commoners are demanding his resignation. A local newspaper has already published opinions of a cross-section of the society that Vijayvargiya should quit on moral grounds and if does not do so, the chief minister should get him dismissed.

The BJP circles claim that the Congress' consent had been obtained for holding the special session. The chief minister had met the leader of opposition Ms. Jamuna Devi at a Mumbai hospital, where she is presently recuperating, and had obtained her consent. However, many Congress MLAs insist that Ms. Jamuna Devi had not given her nod. The Congress legislature party is meeting at Bhopal to decide whether or not the Congress members should attend the special session.

A section of the state Congress leadership feels that instead of boycotting the session, the party MLAs should attend it and use the opportunity to expose the corrupt deeds of the ministers and the officers. Besides Vijayvargiya, corruption charges have also been levelled against several other ministers. It is officially learnt that the Lokayukta is enquiring into corruption charges against at least half-a-dozen ministers.

In addition to ministers and top officers, second-rank BJP leaders and officers of lower ranks have also been accused of corrupt practices of a serious nature. Just recently, the government sacked the chairpersons and all other office-bearers of all the five “Town Development Authorities” of the state. On April 26, the government dismissed the chairpersons of Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Jabalpur and Dewas Development Authorities. All the dismissed chairpersons are prominent leaders of the BJP and all were reported to be neck deep in corruption. The decision came after a High Court order directing the government to initiate an enquiry into the corruption charges against the chairperson of the Ujjain Authority. There were so many charges of corruption against other chairpersons that the government decided to get rid of all of them in one go. .

All the Authorities had become cesspools of corruption. Mohan Yadav, chairperson of the Ujjain Authority was accused of amassing wealth to the tune of Rs. 100 crores. The charges against him echoed in the High Court in the shape of a petition. Immediately after the HC ordered an enquiry, the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) seized the relevant files from the office of the Ujjain Authority. But the EOW officials complained that the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority was not co-operating with them. Despite persistent efforts, he was holding back some important files. The EOW has now requested the government to remove the CEO as well. It has made it clear that unless the CEO was removed, it would be difficult for it to conduct an enquiry.

Besides the scandals already enumerated, every day, news of raids on the offices or residences of this or that official appears in newspapers. And these reveal huge financial assets, vastly disproportionate to the income of the official concerned.

This state of affairs clearly indicates that the BJP government has failed to check corruption. And that is probably why a section of Congressmen feel that the special session of the assembly should be used to put the government in the dock on the corruption issue. (IPA Service)