The new Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav, who took the oath of his office Wednesday, has come under attack from the Opposition Congress, which has raked up its allegation against Yadav in connection with “irregularities” in a land case in Ujjain city. Yadav is a three-time BJP MLA from Ujjain South. Barely a day after the BJP named Yadav as its CM for MP, Congress national general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh posted a statement in Hindi on X, stating that “Eight days after the election results, BJP elected the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, a person against whom there are many serious allegations including of large-scale manipulation in the Ujjain master plan.” He also made a reference to Simhastha land while targeting Yadav. Simhastha land The land in question is related to the Simhastha satellite town in Ujjain where the Simhastha fair known as the Ujjain Mahakumbh is organised every 12 years. According to tradition, Simhastha is one of the four fairs traditionally recognised as Kumbha Melas. A river-side festival, it is held on the banks of Shipra river in Ujjain. The next Simhastha will be held in 2028 and millions of devotees are expected to participate in it, where many make-shift camps and large pandals would be set up. In view of the Simhastha fair, the Ujjain district authorities have stipulated that no residential or commercial construction of any kind would be allowed in this area. Cong allegation against Yadav On May 26 this year, the Ujjain administration announced a city development plan which provided for development of a new township near Ujjain city. This included 148.679 hectares of land identified for the satellite town in Savarkhedi village, which was typically used for parking and public services for Simhastha. A Congress leader from Ujjain, Ravi Rai, on May 28 alleged that the use of 148 hectares of land was changed to residential from agricultural to benefit Yadav and his family members, who own about 50 hectares of the land there. Former Congress minister Sajjan Singh Verma alleged that changes were accordingly made in Ujjain's Master Plan 2035, released on May 26, to benefit the minister and his relatives. Verma accused Yadav of allegedly influencing the Ujjain authorities to change the city master plan so that the plots held by his family were turned into residential land. The Congress leaders also alleged that that the approval of Ujjain’s master plan would thus lead to a loss of about Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer. Protests from other quarters The local temple management committee also protested against the change in land use. The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) opposed the proposal to reduce the Simhastha fair area in Master Plan, 2035 as its members argued that it would be insufficient to host tens of millions of devotees expected in the fair. The temple management committee asked the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government to reconsider the proposal. Yadav's response Mohan Yadav, who was then education minister, denied any wrongdoing in the case. He had told reporters, "I didn’t do anything for changing the use of land. The allegations are baseless.” Chouhan govt's action Following the protests by temple authorities, the Ujjain district administration reverted the land use of 148 hectares of land from residential back to agricultural. This came after Chief Minister Chouhan intervened in the matter, officials said. The government officials explained this land use reversal to an anticipation that there may be difficulty in parking space and other services if the land is converted to residential one. Subsequently, the Ujjain Development Authority declared that the "use of the land will remain agricultural and it will be used in Simhastha-2028 and a reserve will be kept for temporary parking for Simhastha”.
