Column | It's Shivraj Singh Chouhan Versus BJP in Madhya Pradesh

Shivraj Singh Chouhan knows better than most politicians how quickly power can change the way people treat you. Speaking at a function in Bhopal about two years ago after he was replaced by Mohan Yadav as the chief minister (CM) of Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chouhan recalled the difference between being in power and being out of it. “If you are the chief minister, they say, ‘Bhaisaab, your feet are like a lotus.’ And when you are no longer in that position, your photographs disappear from posters, jaise gadhe ke sar se seeng [like horns disappearing from a donkey’s head].”

The remark reflected Chouhan’s own predicament. Once the dominant political figure in MP, he is now a Union minister whose influence in the state appears diminished. His decision to stage a dharna on October 11 against the eviction of tribal families from forest land at Sehore’s Kosmi village has brought that discomfort into the open.

Chouhan was not protesting against an opposition government. He was challenging the administration of his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Yadav. The confrontation raises two questions: is the former chief minister defending vulnerable tribal families against an insensitive bureaucracy, or is he trying to reclaim political space in a state where he no longer calls the shots?

Chouhan governed MP for over 16 years across three successive terms and also a return to office. His image as ‘mama’ (uncle), a leader who cares for ordinary families, women and the poor, became central to his political appeal. But after the BJP’s victory in the 2023 Assembly election, he was not chosen to continue as the CM and he moved, rather unwillingly, to Delhi as Union agriculture minister.

The transition has not been easy. Chouhan remains politically invested in Vidisha, his Lok Sabha constituency, and Sehore, the district that includes his former Assembly seat, Budhni. Supporters complain that local officials, including district-level administrators, no longer give him the importance they once did. His presence in the posters and banners of local political events has also diminished.

For a leader accustomed to exercising authority across the state, the change is significant. Kosmi offered him an opportunity to demonstrate that he still remains a force in MP politics. The timing, when the Central leadership is busy dousing the anti-Election Commission protests, is also significant.

The Kosmi dispute concerns approximately 80 acres of forest land from which encroachments were removed in October. According to the Forest Development Corporation and other officials, 12 tribal families had occupied the land where a plantation had been established. The authorities maintain that the plantation was subsequently damaged and the land cleared for cultivation and settlements.

Officials say satellite imagery supports their account. They contend that forest-offence cases were registered, notices were issued in December 2025 and eviction notices followed in September before the removal operation.

Chouhan, however, questioned the manner of the eviction and demanded accountability from officials. His intervention transformed a local dispute into an open confrontation between a former chief minister and the government of his own party.

The administration must establish whether the notices and eviction proceedings complied with the law, a BJP leader from the Chouhan camp says.

On October 12, Yadav announced an inquiry to ascertain the facts of the matter.

Electoral Arithmetic

Chouhan’s son, Kartikey Singh Chouhan, also visited Kosmi on October 13. He questioned the authorities’ demand for ownership documents from tribal families who, he said, live under the open sky. While defending the affected families, Kartikey also tried to protect Yadav’s reputation by suggesting that officials, rather than the CM, were responsible for the controversy. Like his father, he also reminded the administration that the BJP government in MP had been formed with the votes of tribal people.

Budhni is particularly significant. Chouhan represented the constituency for years before moving to the Lok Sabha and vacating the Assembly seat. In the subsequent by-elections, BJP sources say, he wanted Kartikey, his heir apparent, to be given the ticket Though the BJP retained Budhni, a Chouhan loyalist won by a margin of only around 13,000 votes—a decline of over one lakh votes .

The tribal electorate matters in this calculation. Chouhan has nurtured this votebank for decades. There are allegations that he looked the other way as they cleared thousands of acres of forest and encroached upon the forest while Chouhan ruled MP. By standing with families facing eviction now, he can reinforce his image as a leader who remains accessible to the marginalised.

Chouhan has long cultivated the image of an environmentalist. His practice of planting a sapling every day became a familiar feature of his public persona, cementing the impression of a politician committed to conservation.

Kosmi contradicted this image, says a forest department official. Forest officials also say the plantation on the disputed land was damaged and encroachment happened during Chouhan’s tenure as CM, with the expansion reportedly taking place around 2022. Interestingly, the present chief secretary was also the principal secretary forest when Chouhan was the chief minister.

A Battle for Relevance?

Kosmi is part of a broader pattern in which Chouhan has shown willingness to question decisions taken by the state government. His interventions have fuelled speculation about his relationship with Yadav and the extent to which he has accepted his reduced role in MP politics, says a senior BJP functionary in the state. A leader who dominated MP for years may find it difficult to watch a successor command the administration and political machinery he once controlled, he adds.

When influential leaders challenge government decisions, bureaucrats can find themselves caught between competing political signals, while citizens are left wondering whose authority prevails, says a senior official of the Indian Forest Service in MP.

Kosmi is therefore more than a dispute over 80 acres. Chouhan has reminded the state that he has not disappeared from its politics. But his environmental legacy will be judged not by the number of saplings he planted or the number of dharnas he joins, but by whether forests are protected and vulnerable communities receive justice. In Kosmi, both remain unresolved. The tribals deserve a fair hearing, the forest deserves protection and the government owes the public a clear account of what happened. None of these should depend on who is in power or who has lost it.

Deshdeep Saxena is a Bhopal-based journalist