MP’s big U-turn: Did RSS pressure force CM Mohan Yadav to roll back Ujjain land pooling plan?

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav

What began as the Madhya Pradesh government’s flagship urban renewal plan for Simhastha 2028, the Kumbh Mela held every 12 years in Ujjain, has ended in an unexpected retreat for Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. The rollback marks the first major concession of his tenure.

Under pressure from the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), an RSS-affiliated farmers’ outfit, and after the Sangh leadership stepped in, the BJP government withdrew the ambitious land pooling scheme late on Monday. The project had been described by the CM as the “cornerstone of the transformation of Ujjain”, his political home turf.  Moneycontrol couldn't independently verify the claim.

The decision followed weeks of backchannel negotiations and came only after the BJP central leadership intervened. It was finalised just as BKS units began preparing large-scale protests across the Malwa region.

According to Indian Express, the CM had been assured by his local administrators that land acquisition would face only routine resistance. But feedback from the ground told a different story. By the time farmer anger hardened across the Malwa region, the issue had reached the BJP’s central leadership in Delhi.

“They told him protests were normal. By the time ground feedback reached Bhopal, the situation had hardened,” the report said, citing a government source.

Senior BKS leader K Raghvendra Patel argued that the CM did not engage meaningfully with the state unit. “He met us and discussed the fine print for two hours only after Delhi approved the withdrawal,” he said.

The resistance first surfaced in February, when the BKS launched an andolan across the Malwa region, where it has over 8 lakh members and more than 4,000 gram samitis. By October, the organisation had mobilised tens of thousands through tractor rallies, village assemblies, and symbolic rituals such as “Sadbuddhi Yagyas”.

Repeated letters to the CM reportedly went unanswered. By mid-October, a detailed ground report had reached the RSS headquarters and BJP strategists in Delhi. “We told them that even if a quarter of this land was opened to construction, 12 years later there would be no ground left to conduct the Kumbh Mela,” a senior RSS functionary told Indian Express.

The file then escalated from BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh to party president J P Nadda and finally to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah is learnt to have questioned several provisions in the plan and sought “another presentation from Yadav with better alternatives,” according to a senior BJP leader.

The Malwa region, with Ujjain at its spiritual and political centre, has long been the BJP’s ideological reservoir and one of its strongest electoral zones. From the Ram Mandir mobilisation in the 1980s to farmer agitations after 2017, nearly every big movement shaping the party’s rural outreach has originated here.

A dense network of cooperative bodies, major temple trusts, and Sangh-affiliated organisations such as the BKS gives the BJP a deep organisational base. These farmer groups influence nearly two dozen Assembly seats across five districts.

For Ujjain North MLA Anil Jain Kaluheda, whose constituency covered nearly 80 per cent of the villages affected by the land pooling scheme, the rollback brings both relief and introspection. Calling the decision a “good step”, he admitted, “But we failed to explain the scheme properly. I had over 30 meetings with farm unions and leaders, trying to show them how new roads and facilities could raise profitability. But they didn’t accept it.”

By late October, MLAs, local officers, and Mela authorities reportedly warned the CM that opposition was hardening. “Some suggested using force, but that would have meant losing the ground completely,” Jain said.

Several bureaucrats said the issue was less about the policy and more about the lack of transparency. After issuing the draft notification, the administration delayed sharing land maps, benefit models, and compensation details. This gap fuelled suspicions.

“People kept asking for blueprints, which lands would be taken, how compensation would work, but we stalled for weeks. That delay cost us,” a senior officer said.

The withdrawal was finalised late Monday in a two-hour meeting between senior BJP leaders, top bureaucrats, and BKS representatives at the CM’s residence.

Just hours earlier, BKS cadre were preparing for their “Dera Dalo, Ghera Dalo” protest at the Ujjain Collectorate, a move that could have paralysed the Malwa region. The BKS said thousands of farmers from 18 districts were ready to stay for an extended agitation with their own supplies. Reports indicated that thousands of tractors were also preparing to head towards Ujjain.