Why Shivraj Singh Chouhan is miffed with BJP's own govt in MP

The removal of forest encroachments made by Barela tribal community members saw the Union agriculture minister intervene, but observers see a wider political angleUnion agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has yet again trained his guns on the forest department in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh after 12 huts of members of the Barela tribal community were razed in Kosmi village in Sehore district.Kosmi falls under Budhni assembly constituency, represented by Chouhan when he was the state’s chief minister. Budhni is located in Chouhan’s Vidisha Lok Sabha seat.Barela is a designated tribal community in MP.Last year in June, Chouhan had protested against an anti-encroachment drive of the forest department in Kheoni Wildlife Sanctuary where around 50 houses of tribal people were removed from forest land. The action was followed by the transfer of the divisional forest officer of Sehore. On October 11, the forest department and local administration demolished huts, blocked wells and destroyed standing crop in Kosmi that they claimed had come up on forest land.“Twelve families had encroached upon 31.48 hectares of forest land. Notices had been served earlier for eviction and action was being taken since 2025. A timeframe of 15 days was given to vacate the forest land, but the encroachers did not do so, after which they were evicted,” said Tarun Kaurav, manager, State Forest Development Corporation. The land in question was transferred by the forest department to the Forest Development Corporation, which is a commercial entity under the state government and deals in timber.On learning about the action, Chouhan reached the village and joined a protest. “I have spoken to the [state] chief secretary and expressed displeasure. I had asked the local administration not to take any action against settlers because they have been living there for a long time,” Chouhan told the media. He demanded action against officials and accused them of conspiring to malign chief minister Mohan Yadav.Chouhan later spoke to state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal. He also said he would discuss the matter with the chief minister. “What happened in my constituency is the epitome of injustice. Homes inhabited till morning are now destroyed. Standing crop has also been destroyed. Those who did this lack sensitivity. God will not forgive them,” said Chouhan."The issue has been flagged to me. We will have the matter looked into,” said chief minister Yadav.According to him, temporary housing and food would be provided to the displaced people. Interestingly, Chouhan claimed that the tribal people evicted were BJP voters who had supported the party in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections. “It is with these votes that Mohan ji (Mohan Yadav) became chief minister,” he said, leaving open the question as to whether being a BJP voter entitled anyone to immunity from the law.Political observers see the incident within a wider friction apparently on between Chouhan and Yadav, who succeeded the former as chief minister in December 2023. Among the reasons are administrative action affecting tribal communities, tweaks to social welfare policies of the Chouhan era and the agriculture policy of the Yadav government. In July, farmers protesting against tardy procurement of moong had reached the residence of Chouhan in Bhopal, a development that did not go down well with him.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends