BHOPAL: At the end of his one-year government in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav spoke on a range of issues, including his vision for the state, reduction in bulldozing activities in the past year and interim court orders on locations. I had a meeting with HT. Worship method.
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Edited excerpt:
You took over as CM from Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who held the post for almost two decades. How has your approach changed since you took over?It was a challenge for me as it was a new job. Our Bharatiya Janata Party government was in power for a long time, with Mr. Shivraj running the government with his own identity. Although it is true that I was very junior to Mr. Shivraj, I took his work forward and had the support of everyone, including him. I had no personal agenda and focused on the management skills I had been taught during my training as a swayamsevak and took on the responsibilities given to me.
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The Supreme Court put the bulldozer trial on hold. After the UP, MPs demolished the largest number of properties of people accused of various crimes. What do you think about this order? As I said before, bulldozer action is not part of our tradition and I never supported it. Illegal housing should be demolished after going through legal procedures, so we welcome this decision. We will take action against the accused in accordance with the law.
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The Supreme Court also stayed all court proceedings regarding claims for mosques and dargahs across India, pending a decision on petitions challenging the worship laws. How do you see it?
When people ask me how I feel when courts move to reclaim land, I always say I’m glad people approach the courts instead of taking the law into their own hands. In other words, people are not creating disturbances in religious places, but they are following the law by going to court to correct the wrongs committed in the past. There’s nothing wrong with it. If the court finds it correct, it will rule in our favor. Otherwise, we are sitting at home. I do not support making noise or fighting in the streets for this purpose.
What have you achieved in your first year as an MP?The world’s first project to connect two rivers, which has been pending for the past 20 years, has been successfully resolved, and the foundation stone is expected to be laid this month. The Sindh Chambal project of Kembetwa and Parvati was the vision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted its successful implementation. We are happy to have sat down with Rajasthan and UP to resolve the issue.
The focus is on getting investment. You recently visited Germany and the UK, where the governments are planning overseas investment. What are the plans?We have organized at least six regional industry conferences across the state. How much investment has actually come in? Observe 2025 as your investment year. The following investment proposals were received at the regional meeting. INRwe are happy with this. During the conclave, I will step away from my CM role and become CEO. I always spend time with investors to build mutual understanding so they can invest in our state without fear.
Before the parliamentary elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party in its manifesto promised an increase in Ladri Bena and special bonuses for wheat, paddy and other crops. The state government is reeling with a debt of more than 5 million yen. INR3 billion. How do you plan to fulfill your poll promises? We will fulfill all our poll promises as we will also focus on increasing revenue. We are installing solar pumps to save on electricity subsidies. Similarly, we have merged the two departments of health and medical education to improve collaboration and save money. Debt is not a problem at all as the loan is taken within the prescribed RBI limits. People are making it unnecessarily problematic.
Regarding the spending on your home city of Ujjain, there seems to be opposition even from within the senior political cabinet ministers. How are you going to deal with it? There is no one more senior than the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister, and the Minister is the Minister. In the cabinet, everyone has the right to express their opinion, otherwise the mannequin will be forced to sit. Regarding the Ujjain road development issue, there may be curiosity, but not much opposition. As Singhastha has only three years left and three rainy seasons, decisions have to be taken on all development projects now. We expected 150 million people to visit the fair.
While previous Prime Ministers focused on Lord Shiva and Lord Ram, you have paid special attention to Lord Krishna. Is there any special reason? Yes, there is a special reason for that. Lord Krishna has a huge number of devotees at home and abroad. Madhya Pradesh has many places visited by Lord Krishna. He learned everything at Sandipani Ashram in Ujjain. It is there that he fought Rukmani and spent the night with his friend Sudama. We are preparing a place so that his disciples who go to Mathura and Dwarka can also come to Ujjain and other places in MP. It will promote religious tourism.
