The BJP has finally mounted a robust defence of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav against allegations of huge land purchases by his family in Ujjain, underlining his OBC identity while countering Opposition demands for his resignation.
Initially, the BJP had maintained a conspicuous silence when the allegations surfaced on Tuesday. On Thursday, it launched a counter-offensive, alleging an attempt to target an OBC chief minister — the caste card played apparently with an eye on next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
“The Opposition’s campaign appears less about accountability and more about maligning an OBC Chief Minister who has risen through democratic politics on the strength of public support,” BJP social media head Amit Malviya posted on X on Thursday.
While no senior BJP leader has publicly defended Yadav so far, Malviya’s post is being widely seen as reflecting the central leadership’s position.
Dismissing the allegations as a politically motivated "witch-hunt", Malviya argued the charges were "collapsing under the weight of facts".
Yadav has been under intense political pressure since The Indian Express reported that his family members had bought 253 acres of land around Ujjain, starting when he first became a minister in 2021 and continuing after he took over as chief minister in 2023.
The report said the land parcels were located either near new road projects announced in and around Ujjain, or in areas earmarked for conversion from agricultural to residential or commercial use, raising questions of propriety and potential conflicts of interest.
The Congress and other Opposition parties have used the controversy to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI were not investigating Yadav.
They have repeated their longstanding charge of the government using its investigative agencies to target Opposition leaders while remaining in “deep slumber” when ruling party leaders “loot public wealth”.
Malviya’s post was dismissive. “First, the most crucial fact: the land holdings of the Chief Minister and his immediate family have not increased since he assumed office as Chief Minister. This alone demolishes the central narrative being peddled by his political opponents,” it said.
“Second, the Ujjain Master Plan and details of the city’s future infrastructure development were already in the public domain in May 2023, months before Mohan Yadav became Chief Minister in December 2023.
“If the roadmap for roads, urban expansion and infrastructure projects was publicly known, where is the question of any insider advantage accruing to the Chief Minister or anyone else after he took office?”
A comment by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav seems to have facilitated the BJP's move to play the OBC card.
Akhilesh had come out in defence of Mohan Yadav, alleging a conspiracy within the BJP to force him out.
“The BJP has hatched a conspiracy to defame Mohan Yadav. This is nothing new. He was involved in the real estate business earlier. Didn't the BJP know this?" Akhilesh had said, attributing the controversy to an intra-party power struggle.