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A political slugfest has erupted over allegations that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's extended family acquired 137 plots of land in Ujjain, allegedly benefiting from subsequent road projects and land use changes.
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00:00Good evening, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaquille, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has landed in a 168
00:08crore mess.
00:09An Indian Express investigation claims that since he took office in December 2023, firms linked to his family acquired 137
00:18plots across 168 acres in Ujjan for around 45 crore rupees,
00:24largely in areas later impacted by road projects and land use changes announced by the government.
00:31The report has triggered a sharp political row, while the Congress has alleged a loot engine is running from Ayodhya
00:38to Ujjan.
00:39The BJP has said that details are already there in the public domain and has claimed that the Chief Minister
00:44is being targeted over caste considerations.
00:47Was the land bought ahead of development purely coincidental or is there more to this story?
00:55Before I bring in the guest, here's the report.
00:59It's a controversy that threatens to rock the very foundation of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.
01:05An investigation by the Indian Express that claimed that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's family and their real estate firms acquired
01:12at least 137 plots spanning 168 acres in Ujjan
01:16for 45 crores in the two years since he became CM in December 2023, mostly in areas benefiting from road
01:22projects and land use changes that his government announced.
01:27Several relatives of the Chief Minister have also been named, not just his immediate family, including his wife, son and
01:33daughter-in-law,
01:34but also his extended family, including brother Nandlal Yadav, Narayan Yadav, Rekha Yadav, that is the wife of Narayan Yadav,
01:41nephew Abhay Yadav, cousin Govind Yadav, Nilesh Yadav and sister Kalawati Yadav.
01:48But now India today has carried out its own investigation into the matter and this is what we unearthed.
01:54First of all, there has been no increase in the Chief Minister's agricultural land holdings.
01:58In November 2023, his total agricultural land ownership and position stood at 17.967 acres and it remains exactly the
02:07same as of June 2026.
02:10Secondly, Sima Yadav's agricultural land holdings have also remained largely unchanged.
02:15She owned 12.287 acres in November 2023 compared to 12.292 acres in June 2026.
02:22These land parcels were purchased between 2008 and 2019, well before Mohan Yadav became Chief Minister.
02:30Moreover, the Ujjain Master Plan 2035 came into effect in May 2023, well before Mohan Yadav assumed office as Chief
02:38Minister in December that year.
02:42But not all questions remain unanswered.
02:45The immediate family of Mohan Yadav acquired five plots after he became Chief Minister.
02:49However, other individuals associated with the Yadav family purchased 116 plots.
02:55Most of these plots were located near already existing roads.
02:59Revenue records indicate that the Chief Minister's relatives purchased 76 acres of land in 2024.
03:04The figure increased further in 2025.
03:07In that year, the Yadav family purchased 96 acres of land.
03:11As a result, the family's total land bank rose to 335 acres.
03:15However, the combined land holdings of Mohan Yadav, his wife Seema, his son Vaibhav, and daughter-in-law Shalini Yadav
03:22amount to only 56.45 acres.
03:27One such location under the lens is Jainspur village on the Ujjain-Maksli road.
03:31Here, Govind Yadav, a cousin of Mohan Yadav, along with his sons Siddharth and Anant,
03:36acquired four acres of land where a residential colony is currently being developed.
03:39This is the immediate family of Mohan Yadav, which is the immediate family of Mohan Yadav.
04:16However, people associated with the Ujjain real estate market say that it is not just this company.
04:22Since the inauguration of the Mahakal Lok Corridor in 2022,
04:25Ujjain's real estate sector has witnessed a major boom.
04:53At the heart of this row lies a crucial question.
04:56Was the purchase of land ahead of development projects merely a coincidence?
05:01Should land acquired by relatives be viewed through the prism of political power?
05:04Or is this simply the latest round of political accusations and counter-accusations?
05:09With Ravish Palsegan Ujain, Bureau Report, India Today.
05:15Let me bring in my guests who are joining me right now.
05:18Shahzad Poonawala, National Spokesperson of the BJP.
05:21Ji Kumar Nayak is a former IES officer and a member of Parliament of the Lok Sabha of the Congress
05:28Party.
05:28Rashid Kidway, author and political analyst and journalist, also joins me.
05:33Shahzad Poonawala, before I bring in the charge that has come in from your party with regards to Priyank Kargi,
05:39I want to understand from you, don't you think and doesn't the BJP think that the Chief Minister of Madhya
05:45Pradesh must come clean?
05:51The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has come clean.
05:54And it's not me saying this.
05:56It's no less than Akhilesh Yadav.
05:58Akhilesh Yadav has said that this seems to be like a sponsored attack.
06:01And surely Akhilesh Yadav is not a part of the BJP?
06:04And perhaps if the Congress Party wanted to put its money where its mouth is,
06:10they would have approached a court of law and demanded a judicial inquiry on this.
06:14Because the Congress Party also knows.
06:16Now look, Maria, let me address it without beating around the bush.
06:20Mohan Yadavji has an immediate family.
06:23His son, his daughter-in-law, his wife.
06:25Your own investigation has shown that not an inch, not an iota, not a centimetre of land
06:31has increased from the day he has become Chief Minister to now.
06:35That means no changes have been done in his own landholding.
06:39No changes have been done in the master plan of Ujjal,
06:42which by the way was created much before he became Chief Minister.
06:46Now Mohan Yadav has a huge family.
06:48I also have about 50 to 60 cousins because my father and mother have 5 or 6 siblings each.
06:53So now those who are not my immediate family, my extended family, have a legitimate business.
06:59They are continuing with their business much before I have become MP,
07:02much before I have become MLA, much before I have become spokesperson.
07:06They acquire, sell properties, lands.
07:08They have hundreds of bigas of lands, agricultural lands, so on and so forth.
07:11I link that with my projection and career projection.
07:15And I say that now that corruption has taken place because of them,
07:18because I have become MP or because I have become a spokesperson.
07:22This is ridiculous.
07:23And if there was any truth in this, I challenge the Honourable Speaker from the Congress,
07:28leave this debate and tomorrow take these allegations and file a complaint in the court.
07:32In the High Court, in the Supreme Court.
07:35Take this up legally as a challenge coming in from the BJP.
07:42Mr. Nayak.
07:46I think it is for the Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh to come clean.
07:51It is a matter of propriety and conflict of interest.
07:54Let us not forget that he has been a prominent politician in Madhya Pradesh for quite some time.
07:59He has been in charge of the Urban Development Authority of the city, Ujjayen.
08:04He has been in charge of the Tourism Development Corporation.
08:08All these things, both the entities are the ones which are responsible for master plan development,
08:14as well as taking locational decisions as far as various infrastructural developments
08:19which are supposed to happen to promote the tourism.
08:22All along the common factor is the Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
08:27He knew what was happening.
08:29If he did not purchase, his kit and kin have purchased in large quantities,
08:33areas which were supposed to be getting converted from agriculture to commercial,
08:40agriculture to residential, where the roads were supposed to come.
08:43The family was privy to the information which was not available to common man.
08:50Let us not forget that, no, this is an important, clear case of conflict of interest.
08:55Authority was with the person.
08:58He knew what was happening and he shared the information with the family
09:01and the family went about its business.
09:03This point that has been made by the Congress spokesperson here
09:08and a member of Parliament, Mr. Nayak, is something that I want to understand from you.
09:14Were the people in Madhya Pradesh aware of this particular land
09:20and that it will be part of the expansion?
09:25Not really.
09:26You see, Maria, what has happened is equivalent to what we call it in stocks,
09:33the kind of, you know, inside trading.
09:35And that is a serious allegation.
09:37So any industrial house, business house, if they are found to be guilty of inside trading,
09:43then there is, you know, the SEBI and the other law enforcement agencies act upon it.
09:48I am not here to say that Mr. Mohan Yadav is guilty or not.
09:51There is a rule of law.
09:53The BGP is, I mean, the government of Madhya Pradesh as well as the central government
09:57is a custodian of the constitution.
09:59It is not for the Congress party to go and approach a particular court or, you know,
10:04ask for judicial probe.
10:05I am surprised that, you know, Shahzad, who has a legal mind, who is a trained lawyer,
10:10is saying these kind of things in defense of a person who is under some kind of, you know,
10:16cloud and coming from a spokesman of a political party that says the party with a difference.
10:20What has the Madhya been an allegation of the BGP against the Congress since the time of Nehru
10:26to tell Manmohan Singh that there were several acts of omission and commission were there,
10:30even when the case of glaring case of Beaufort's,
10:33the Delhi High Court has given a clean shit to Rajiv Gandhi.
10:36Is my dear friend Shahzad prepared to believe that Rajiv Gandhi was innocent
10:40and no bribe was taken in Beaufort's?
10:42I am going to talk about all of that because it's about politics as much as it is about
10:47these details which have emerged.
10:48Shahzad, I am going to come to you because all questions have to be answered by the BJP now.
10:53But in another case, it has to be answered by the Congress party.
10:56And speaking of politics, the Congress has seized on the report to target the Madhya Pradesh
11:01chief minister, demanding answers over alleged land acquisitions and real estate interests
11:07linked to the family.
11:08The BJP, however, has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and has responded
11:14with charges of its own against Congress President Malika Junkarge's family
11:20over a land allotment in Karnataka.
11:23Take a look at this report and then I'll go back to the guests.
11:28Land versus land.
11:31Allegation versus allegation.
11:34A fresh political slugfest has erupted between the BJP and Congress.
11:40The trigger?
11:42An Indian Express report on land purchases linked to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav's
11:48family.
11:53The opposition has seized on the report demanding answers from the chief minister.
12:21The Samajwadi party has also joined the attack.
12:24Drawing parallels between the alleged land deal controversy and the Ayodhya Ram temple donation
12:29Rao.
12:47The BJP, however, has rubbished the allegations, calling them politically motivated and accusing
12:54the opposition of targeting an OBC chief minister.
12:59The President, as a government manager of the world,
13:00When a leader of a former prime minister was accused of getting into this country, whether
13:04we are Bharati, Sean Hsivara Singh Chohan or our own regime, or even ourselves, by the
13:10working force of doing these acts, has been observed by the people.
13:18But even before the dust could settle, the BJP launched a counter-offensive, this time
13:24targeting Congress President Malik Arjun Khargay's family.
13:30The BJP alleges five acres of lands in Karnataka was allotted to a trust linked to Khargay family.
13:37The allotment was made by the Karnataka Industrial Area's Development Board during Congress rule.
13:42The BJP claims the land was earmarked for aerospace research and development.
13:47It alleges the plot is now valued at nearly 100 crore rupees.
13:52The party also questions the trust lack of aerospace R&D experience and alleges political influence was used to secure
14:00the allotment.
14:27The BJP says Congress is deflecting.
14:30Congress says BJP is distracting.
14:33But as charges collide with counter-charges, one thing is clear.
14:38The battle over land has become the newest battleground in India's political war.
14:43Bureau Report, India Today.
14:51The Karnataka Minister and Malik Arjun Khargay's son, Priyank Khargay, has responded to BJP's charge.
14:58And he took to Twitter to say that BJP is trying so hard to please the RSS.
15:03People are asking for the counts of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
15:07But the BJP is working overtime to demand the accountability of Lord Buddha in Kalburgi.
15:12You had five BJP chief ministers in Karnataka.
15:16Why did none of them act?
15:17Modi Sarkar has been in power for 12 years.
15:20If there was wrongdoing, why am I still roaming free and not in jail?
15:25My papers are publicly available and ready to discuss it on any platform.
15:31Chhazad Poonawala, you have had five BJP chief ministers in Karnataka.
15:36Why have none of them acted against the Khargay family?
15:39Modi Sarkar has been in power for 12 years.
15:42Why is Mr. Priyank Khargay still roaming around free?
15:51Now, Maria, and I hope you will give me enough time because I have to counter two points made by
15:55two different spokespersons.
15:57Yes.
15:58When I said to the congress spokesperson, go file a complaint, I was immediately told, but you must have a
16:03sense of morality and propriety.
16:06And here Priyank Khargay is saying that if you were five CMs, then what are you doing?
16:09Let me tell the nepochid of Karnataka that we have filed a complaint and the complaint right now with 394
16:16page complaint about not just this particular allotment, but the allotment of BDA land, allotment of 19 acres in Kalaburgi,
16:23allotment of Vakf land, which was done illegally, all to the Khargay family where a trust has Mr. Priyank Khargay
16:30and Malik Arjun Khargay.
16:31And the low kayuk of Karnataka has taken cognizance of it.
16:34So qualitatively, the arguments and the allegations are very different.
16:37The BJP has done its legal job by filing a complaint, by taking the legal course.
16:43On the other hand, the Congress Party, what was the first statement made by the Honorable Speaker of Congress Party,
16:48Maria, in your show?
16:49He said that the question is not about legality.
16:51It is about propriety and morality.
16:54If it is a question about morality, then you set the moral standard in Karnataka.
16:58Is Mr. Khargay going to resign?
16:59Is Mr. Priyank Khargay going to resign?
17:01Point number one.
17:02Point number two, now Mr. Rashid Kedwai, and I have great respect, Rashid, his books, his writings are something we
17:09have grown up on.
17:10Rashid ji said that this is like insider trading.
17:12I did not expect him to make this kind of analysis.
17:15Why?
17:16Because insider trading happens when there is a complaint by some kind of a whistleblower who says that,
17:22look, this guy had the information and he has benefited improperly.
17:26If you have such kind of whistleblower, what is your allegation?
17:28Your allegation is, for instance, Congress is saying, Anant Yadav has brought certain amount of land.
17:34That Anant Yadav has brought land from 2010.
17:37Now when I am telling you, give me the land of Vaibhav Yadav, the son of Mohan Yadav, no change
17:42in his land.
17:43Give me the land of Mohan Yadav, no change in his land.
17:45Give me the land of Mohan Yadav's daughter-in-law, no change in her land.
17:49Mohan Yadav's wife, no change.
17:51Some land by some extended family member from 2010, Mohan Yadav has to answer now.
17:57But Khadke family, trust where Khadke family is there, they don't answer.
18:02They are brothers.
18:05If brothers buy and...
18:08No, no, no.
18:09No.
18:10One second.
18:11Extended family including brother, Nandlal Yadav, Narayan Yadav, Rekha Yadav, wife of Narayan Yadav, nephew.
18:18Let me answer.
18:19If all of them buy, is this not what Rashi is saying in cider trading?
18:24Are they not privy to some information which is not publicly available?
18:30Let me answer.
18:31I am answering this very categorically because I am, unlike Congress, not going to hide.
18:36Maria, by this logic that you are extending, that because somebody is in my father's brother's son, who is my
18:42first cousin,
18:43just because he is my first cousin, he will have information that I am privy to.
18:47It is, I am not on good terms with Tahseen.
18:50Tomorrow, Tahseen earns a windfall profit in Pune by some land deal.
18:54Is that the implication that because of me he has earned that windfall?
18:57I don't even talk to Tahseen Pune Wala.
18:59So, how can you say this requires proof?
19:02If there is a sharing of information which is privy and confidential, it can't be supposition.
19:06It has to be proper information that you are providing in a court of law or in a complaint.
19:11Rashi, first your response.
19:12So, give me that complaint.
19:13Give me that information.
19:14You see, I think Maria.
19:14And then I'll bring in Mr. Nair.
19:16Go ahead.
19:16Rashi.
19:17I think Maria, my good friend has taken up Mr. Mohan Yadav's case and he's probably, you know, right.
19:24As he said, he's a lawyer.
19:25He can defend it.
19:27Point is very simple.
19:28Where have these allegations come from?
19:30It has not come from Maria Shaqeel.
19:32It has not come from Rashid Kidwai.
19:33It has not come from anybody from the Congress Party or opposition.
19:36A very credible newspaper has done investigation and come up with this kind of, you know, finding
19:42or conclusion that there was, you know, something wrong in the case of legality, propriety, all
19:47those things are there which needs to be probed.
19:49Nobody is saying Mr. Mohan Yadav is guilty.
19:52All we are saying or expecting from the BJP, which has the highest standards of, you know,
19:56morality in public life, to take note of it and order a probe.
20:01Whether Mr. Mohan Yadav should resign or not, that is for his judgment or for his party to decide.
20:05That's the thing.
20:07Why Mr. Shahzad Kunewala is making balki khal on getting into technicality, whether his cousin
20:12was there or not there.
20:13See, we have seen, Maria, and enough.
20:16It's not just about, you know, certain Yadav family in Uttar Pradesh or others or even for
20:20the better Congress Party, Robert Wadra included, that there always this kind of allegation is
20:25there, there is some kind of quid pro quo, and you brought out this, you know, Kharge,
20:29the kind of yardstick the BJP expects from, you know, Malik Arjun Kharge or his son Priyank
20:33Kharge to observe the same criteria applies to Mr. Mohan Yadav also.
20:38Okay, fine.
20:39But Mr. Nayak, respond to the charge that has been made by the BJP against, I'm coming to
20:45you, Shahzad, against Priyank Kharge and Malik Arjun Kharge.
20:52I think this is a very old allegation which the BJP has been leveling against the Congress
20:58President's family, Mr. Malik Arjun Kharge and Priyank Kharge.
21:03This has been answered many number of times.
21:06If there is anything that is suspicious, more than what they have already explained, let
21:12the EDC, whatever the agency that the central government has, let it start the investigation
21:18and do the needful.
21:19It is not correct to go on alleging like that and trying to bring it in defense of what is
21:24palpably a very clear case of conflict of interest.
21:28As rightly said by Mr. Rashid Kidwar just now, it requires a detailed investigation to actually
21:35say that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has committed a crime.
21:40But what is apparent is there is a definite conflict of interest.
21:44People would not believe this kind of a Chief Minister who, because of whom his entire family
21:51benefits, not the Ujjain city.
21:53It is the family which benefits.
21:54The double-engine Sarkar has a totally different meaning here.
21:57Sabka Sat, Sabka Vikas has a totally different meaning here.
22:01I feel one should be very clear in what we are saying about our allegation against the Congress
22:07Party.
22:07It has already been denied and any investigation can be started by the central government or
22:15any government.
22:16It can't be seen as parallel cases here, Shahzad.
22:18One is an old case, the other one, the details have emerged now.
22:23And especially when a party says, I'm a party with a difference, that any act or even doubt
22:29of omission and commission action will be taken, then here is the case, perhaps a test case.
22:40Maria, first of all in the case of the Siddharth Vihara Trust, let me explain why it's qualitatively
22:45different.
22:46Mr. Khadge and his son are part of that trust.
22:49They are not some extended family.
22:50They themselves are there.
22:52The KIDB land was meant for aerospace research, which they have no expertise in.
22:56That land was allotted and then returned.
22:58So it is an admission of guilt.
22:59Why then they have returned the land?
23:01Because they know that they have taken it wrongfully.
23:03And now Lok Ayukta has taken cognizance of it, that means the legal process has been started.
23:08On the contrary, Rashid Kidwai, one of the foremost journalists in this country, he has
23:13said that Indian Express has put these allegations.
23:15Indian Express is not gospel.
23:17For me, court or the legal process is gospel.
23:19Indian Express has that 2 or 2-4.
23:22I have again explained.
23:24You give me a particular case, Honorable MP Nayak Saab, I am sitting willing, Maria, extend
23:29the debate by 20 minutes.
23:31Nayak Saab, you give me one instance, Mohan Yadav communicated to Anant Yadav, that if
23:36you give me one instance, I will right now say that Mohan Yadav should step down.
23:46But I will give you the instance of Khadge family.
23:49Khadge family in the position of power.
23:51Khadge family in the position of trust.
23:54The land meant for SESK, for aerospace, given to the trust.
23:58Trust then returns when the BJP raises it, thinking that by returning the land they will
24:03get cleared off.
24:03We go to the court.
24:05We go to the Lokayukta.
24:06Lokayukta says, no, we must take cognizance.
24:08Now, Mr. Nayak, give me a specific case where Mohan Yadav has given the specific information
24:13and beneficiary has been the family.
24:15Okay.
24:15Mr. Nayak quickly, quickly respond.
24:18Give me the specific case.
24:22No, no, this is not a very argument.
24:26And this is double-engine sarkar that we are seeing under BJP's rule.
24:30Every double-engine sarkar in the state, in the country, is having something or the other
24:36to hide.
24:36This is the latest example.
24:38Uttar Pradesh has Ram Janma Pumi trust, which is indulging in land scams, as well as the theft
24:46of offerings, devotional offerings of the devotees.
24:51And you have Pema Kandu government, double-engine sarkar once again, taking huge government contracts
24:57to its family.
24:59And similarly, we had Yadiyarappa Ji's government earlier in Karnataka.
25:03So, every double-engine sarkar has a connotation of a huge amount of corruption at the state
25:10level.
25:10One evidence of Mohan Yadav.
25:12That needs to be investigated, Mr. Poorn.
25:15One evidence.
25:16He is saying that investigated.
25:19Investigate it.
25:19Investigate it.
25:20Extend the show ten minutes.
25:22One evidence.
25:23No, but it has, it's a subject of investigation.
25:24It should be investigated.
25:27That should be investigated.
25:28That should be investigated.
25:298 seconds.
25:29Maria, 5 seconds.
25:31Just 5 seconds.
25:325 seconds.
25:32Maria, 5 seconds.
25:34You are saying, he is saying, let it be investigated, then how they are saying Mohan Yadav is corrupt.
25:39Then how they are making this?
25:40Because he is OBC.
25:42Because this Nayak Ji cannot tolerate, Rahul Gandhi can't tolerate OBC.
25:47I am glad Akhilesh Yadav has taken stand, but Yadav…
25:50Should I say that our…
25:50The community will not forgive Congress Party.
25:52So, Akhilesh Ji should…
25:53All right.
25:53We have really come to the end of this discussion.
25:55Shahzad Poonawalla, Mr. Nayak.
25:57No, no, no.
25:58If…
25:58If…
25:59If…
26:00If I…
26:01One…
26:02One second.
26:02Go ahead, Mr. Nayak.
26:03If I take the defense that honorable Congress President is a schedule-caste person, he will
26:07not pardon me.
26:08We cannot take such an argument in this public life.
26:11One has to be above board.
26:12One should be available for scrutiny and being accountable to public.
26:16Yes.
26:17Yeah.
26:17All right.
26:17I think that's the right note to end this.
26:20Mr. Nayak, Shahzad Poonawalla and Rashid Kidwai.
26:21I really appreciate your time.
26:22Thank you so much for joining us.
26:24That's all from me on this edition of The News Track.
26:26I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
26:27Thanks so much for watching.
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