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.

The Congress Government itself did not implement the committee’s report and the BJP has postponed implementing it on one pretext or the other when it came to power again in 2003. Revenue Minister Kamal Patel was not available for comment.

Pradesh chief of Vidya Bharati, an umbrella organisation for RSS affiliated schools, Mulayam Singh Thakur said the organisation was engaged in providing education to students in remote areas and getting government land was justified. He said institutions like Saraswati Shishu Mandir depend on the Government for land because they provide free education or charge minimal fees and depend largely on donations to meet their expenses.

Sources said some of these applications for land had been pending for a long time because these institutions operate from rented premises. The ruling party has been clearing applications at a fast clip before the model code of conduct takes effect.