RSS-affiliated organisations like Saraswati Shishu Mandirs and Gram Bharati Shiksha Samiti had never had it so easy to get land in Madhya Pradesh. In the last 10 months, the ruling BJP has allotted land to at least 18 institutions run by the Sangh, ranging from Saraswati Bal Kalyan Samiti to Deendayal Shodh Sansthan to Dr Hedgewar Janma Shatabdi Smruti Seva Nyas.

Land is not scarce in MP but no organisation had managed to get the state Government to clear applications for land so consistently. Besides the Cabinet, local bodies have also kept the organisation’s proximity to the ruling party in dealing with these applications.

The BJP itself has benefited from the land-allotment spree getting plots to set up offices in Khandwa, Balaghat, Sagar, Sheopur, Lakhnadaun (Seoni district), Jabalpur and Harda.

State Congress chief Suresh Pachauri put the approximate market price of more than 220 acres of land allotted to RSS-affiliated bodies and BJP at anything between Rs 500-600 crore.

“The ruling party is emptying the exchequer in an election year and misusing it for party’s propaganda,” Pachauri alleged and claimed that if his party came to power it would take a fresh look at these allotments. “Bureaucrats have refused to sign some of these land deals because they are patently illegal,” he said.

When the Congress wrested power from the BJP in 1993 it had set up a committee to look into alleged land scandals that took place between 1990 and 1992 till the imposition of President’s Rule. Several land deals had been cancelled leading to litigation.

... contd.