Bhopal, July 6 (IANS): The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress on Monday dubbed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the "kingpin" of the Vyapam scam and held him responsible for the deaths of those connected with the racket.

Calling Chouhan a "merchant of death", the Congress took a dig at the state government, claiming that there was 'shav-raj' (rule of dead) rather than 'shivraj' (rule by Shivraj Singh Chouhan) in Madhya Pradesh.

The state government hit back, saying the Congress was doing politics over the deaths.

"The chief minister and his family is involved in the scam," Congress state unit president Arun Yadav said at a press conference here.

He said that the party had no faith in the investigation by Special Investigation Team working under the supervision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

"The chief minister is constantly proclaiming innocence. If it is so, why does he not write for a CBI probe in the scam? Forty-eight people (related to the scam) have died so far and many more face threats to their lives. Chouhan has become a merchant of death," the Congress leader alleged.

Reacting to the allegations, state ministers Narottam Mishra and Gauri Shankar Shejwar said the Congress was playing politics over bodies. "Twenty-five people connected with the scam have died so far. All these deaths were natural. Vyapam was not the cause of these deaths," they said.

The scam is related to irregularities in admission and recruitment conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam).