Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s unusually strong attack on the Mohan Yadav government in Madhya Pradesh has fuelled speculation that trouble is brewing within the BJP leadership.
Chouhan stirred the political pot by staging a brief dharna in Budhni to protest the demolition of houses belonging to tribal families. The BJP’s longest-serving chief ministers include Chouhan, who is now a Lok Sabha member representing Vidisha, which includes Budhni.
The veteran not only staged a brief sit-in against a government run by his own party but also used language he would normally reserve for rival governments and criminals. He dubbed the forest department officials who carried out the demolition “monsters” (narpishach). He felt slighted because the demolition went ahead even after he had asked the chief secretary and the state BJP chief to stop it.
A day after Chouhan’s outburst, Yadav ordered an inquiry, saying that if a senior leader had flagged an issue, it must be addressed. However, the district collector’s report maintained that the tribal families were not victims but encroachers. The report accused the families of removing plantations and encroaching on forest land over the past five years.
Chouhan described the anti-encroachment drive as the “height of oppression”. Forests are among the portfolios held by Yadav, who replaced Chouhan as chief minister in 2023. The collector’s report further stated that the tribal families owned pucca houses on revenue land in nearby villages.
The former chief minister led a delegation to Yadav’s official residence on Friday. Yadav assured Chouhan that a “practical solution” would be found, without providing further details. Following the assurance, the tribal families called off their procession to Bhopal, the state capital.
Chouhan, who was reluctant to move to Delhi, appears keen to remain relevant in state politics. In the Assembly elections held in late 2023, the BJP registered a spectacular victory, winning 163 of the 230 seats.
Though Chouhan was the incumbent chief minister and hoped to secure another term, the party high command had other plans. The Assembly campaign’s theme was “MP ke mann mein Modi, Modi ke mann mein MP”. When the newly elected legislators met in Bhopal, the leadership announced Yadav’s name as the next chief minister.
Yadav had served as higher education minister in the Chouhan cabinet, but his name was little known outside the state. Few expected the soft-spoken leader to emerge as a challenger to the established leadership, particularly under the powerful leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
After the election verdict, Chouhan stayed put in Bhopal while other contenders for the top job camped in the national capital. “I would prefer to die in Bhopal than go to Delhi and ask for something for myself,” he had said dramatically when reporters asked why he had chosen not to seek another term.
When Chouhan was eventually inducted into the Modi cabinet and allotted the agriculture portfolio, it was widely believed that he had received his due. More than two years into his national role, however, Chouhan has repeatedly indicated that he is more comfortable in his home state.
Yadav began his tenure as chief minister cautiously but has not shied away from reversing decisions taken by his predecessor. The two leaders have traded barbs while avoiding a direct public confrontation.
The latest episode, however, appears to have changed that.
Farmers’ Protests and Ladli Behna Scheme Deepen the Rift
The closest the two leaders had come to openly challenging each other was over farmers’ demand for 100% procurement of moong (green gram). Thousands of aggrieved farmers laid siege to Bhopal, taking the Yadav government by surprise.
Farmers constitute a major political constituency in the agrarian state. In a bid to wriggle out of the difficult situation, Yadav sought to shift the blame to the NDA government at the Centre. Chouhan, in turn, blamed the state government, saying it had not even procured the sanctioned quota.
More recently, Yadav told an interviewer that the Ladli Behna scheme had proved very expensive. Conceived by Chouhan, the populist scheme has been adopted by several state governments despite the substantial costs of making monthly payments to lakhs of women beneficiaries.
While expressing anger over the demolition of tribal houses, Chouhan also responded to Yadav’s criticism of the scheme. He said women and tribal voters had backed the BJP in large numbers, helping Yadav become chief minister.
The episode has given the Opposition Congress fresh ammunition against the BJP government. “The friction between BJP leaders is taking its toll on governance,” the Congress claimed.
