New Delhi: The controversy over the Bhopal literature festival has brought out fissures between the Mohan Yadav-led Madhya Pradesh government and the Sangh Parivar, in what happens to be one of the latest in a string of faceoffs between the two, ThePrint has learnt.
The Bhopal Literature festival had to cancel a scheduled discussion on a new book about Mughal emperor Babur after police warned of possible protests. The author blamed an article published in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-linked newspaper Swadesh, which, he said, ran false and defamatory reports alleging that he intended to glorify Mughal emperor Babur.
After the controversy unfolded, Swadesh also came out with an explanation.
“Every year they try to include a controversial topic each year to generate media attention. Last year, a controversy was created by discussing topics under the banner of homosexuality and LGBTQ+ discourse. This year, a session was organised to discuss a book by author Abhas, which focuses on Babur,” it said.
The disagreement with the entire programme, it added, was solely on the point that at a time when the entire country is united in the spirit of the building of the Ram Temple, there is no need to revive Babur’s name in any form.
The piece said the article had not found fault with the author or the book’s content, nor expressed any opposition to them.
Swadesh further said that their opposition was to the financial support the fest received from the state and the central governments and how it was promoting a “Leftist narrative” for years.
Multiple RSS functionaries ThePrint spoke to conceded that their grouse against the BJP government in MP was because of the way civil servants are running the show.
“The article in Swadesh led to the proposed discussion on Babur getting cancelled, but it also highlights how the government has been a mute spectator to all that has been happening in the state,” a senior BJP leader told ThePrint. “Corruption is the root cause of this, and the bureaucrats are involved. There are many other issues that have cropped up in the past two years, forcing such interventions. The festival itself has been questioned for quite some time, but the bureaucrats have kept quiet.”
Sworn in as the Madhya Pradesh CM in December 2023, Mohan Yadav is a product of the RSS as he began his political career in 1984 when he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyathi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the Sangh. But that has not prevented the Sangh Parivar from criticising the decisions of his government.
Another instance from September highlighted the tension when Yadav’s dream project of a “spiritual city” in Ujjain, which comes under the Malwa region considered as the party’s ideological sourcehead, had faced opposition from RSS affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS).
In September, ThePrint reported how the BKS had opposed the acquisition of 2,400 hectares of land (under its amended land pooling policy) to build a concrete spiritual city ahead of the 2028 Simhastha, one of the Kumbh Melas held every 12 years in Ujjain, besides Haridwar, Prayagraj and Nashik.
The BKS had accused the government of “trying to grab” farmers’ land through the land pooling policy to build permanent structures, which it said was undesirable, arguing that Ujjain had been hosting the Kumbh for centuries without land acquisition for permanent construction.
“The matter had reached Union Home Minister Amit Shah, too. A complaint was made by the organisation. In this case too, the CM is quite new and the bureaucrats are misleading him,” another party functionary said.
The situation escalated as the CM had to face criticism from within the party, too. The land pooling scheme was rolled back in the face of the intense protests by the BKS and their backing by the Sangh. “They had threatened to hit the streets and within the party too, a few MLAs had criticised the move. The CM had no option but to roll back the scheme,” a senior BJP leader said.
The “ineffective” handling of the Indore water contamination also led to the RSS stepping in to “manage the situation”.
“The RSS had to step in as the situation got out of hand and many party leaders had informed them that the public image was getting hit due to the poor management by the government,” the BJP leader said.
Despite the CM being the prabhari (in charge) of Indore, the leader said, there was no mechanism in place for people to get their grievances addressed. “The bureaucrats have to be told that they are there to implement and not take over the system.”
The Indore district collector’s decision to attend a meeting on this issue at the Sangh office had also triggered a controversy.
Many Sangh affiliates are also unhappy with the manner in which policy decisions related to farmers and tribals are being taken without adequate consultation.
In August, the Vanvasi Kalyan Samiti, an RSS affiliate, suggested the government review its policy on restoration of degraded forests to focus on boosting the livelihood of the local tribals. The government’s draft policy to allow private investment for the restoration of 3.7 million hectares of degraded forests had drawn protests from VKS.
Many within the BJP point out that the government needs to get its act together before such issues become a talking-point and are raised by the Opposition.
“Within the government too, many ministers have shared that they don’t have any power to get any work done. Everything is being managed by the CM and the bureaucrats. The Indore incident is the latest example of that. If we don’t mend our ways, things can get out of control,” a senior BJP state leader said.
Another BJP leader explained that the MP government had awarded the contract of managing a luxury old-age home in Bhopal to provide premium facilities for elderly citizens on a paid basis to RSS affiliate Sewa Bharati, only to cancel it later.
A third BJP leader said that the launch was delayed owing to differences between the social welfare department and the Sewa Bharati. The organisation, the sources said, took up the matter with the senior leadership following which the process was initiated again and a new tender was called and awarded.
“We had followed all norms and procedures and our name was cleared thrice. Later the government decided to cancel the tender process. We have no idea why that was done,” a Sewa Bharati functionary said, pointing out that the old-age home is now functional.
The functionary added: “We highlighted the issue as we had fulfilled all the norms and had even put in place some staff. Later on a new tender was called, and Sewa Bharati was awarded the contract for running it as we fulfilled all norms.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)