Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday accused the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of widespread corruption, alleging that chief minister Mohan Yadav was at the centre of what he termed an “engine of loot”.In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that rampant corruption was flourishing under the state’s BJP administration and suggested that internal rivalries within the ruling party had also come to the fore.“In the BJP’s ‘double engine’ government in Madhya Pradesh, the ‘engine of loot’ is running at full speed. The chief minister of the state himself, Mohan Yadav, has become the mastermind of this loot. There is also talk that the “farming of news” against the chief minister has been orchestrated by the agriculture minister who went from MP to the center! It seems like infighting over the chair and shares in the loot. On this major issue, Madhya Pradesh congress president Shri Jitu Patwari (@jitupatwari) will hold an important press conference in Bhopal at 11:30 AM today,” he wrote on X, citing a report by a national daily.
Jairam Ramesh’s post on X
The Congress leader’s remarks came ahead of a press conference by Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari in Bhopal, where the party is expected to raise allegations concerning the state government.Later, addressing a press conference in Bhopal, Patwari called for an investigation by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the allegations. He said chief minister Mohan Yadav should explain how his family’s land holdings allegedly increased from 100 acres to 335 acres after he assumed office.The BJP had not issued an immediate response to the allegations.“Facts clearly show that the BJP is involved in the theft of Ram Temple donations and the looting of Mahakal land,” Patwari said, citing an Indian Express report that alleged Yadav and his family members acquired substantial land holdings after he became chief minister.According to the report, Yadav’s family and their associated real-estate firms purchased at least 137 plots covering 168 acres in Ujjain for around Rs 45 crore in the two years since December 2023. It claimed that most of the acquisitions were made in areas that later benefited from government-announced road infrastructure projects and changes in land-use regulations.Patwari also said Yadav should step down on moral grounds in view of the allegations.Attacking Mohan Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Congress alleged that the chief minister “has turned the holy city of Ujjain into a part of the land scam racket”.“Is it true that after you became Chief Minister, your family and companies associated with them acquired 168 acres of land by purchasing 137 plots? Nearly 111 acres of land were purchased in areas affected by projects—is this mere coincidence?” Madhya Pradesh Congress asked to Mohan Yadav among others questions.Earlier in the day, Ramesh also targeted the proposed interim trade arrangement between India and the United States, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to endorse any agreement that, according to him, would compromise India’s national interests.In a separate post on X, he argued that Indian farmers stood to lose under the proposed framework and cautioned that India may still not secure protection against future unilateral tariffs imposed by Washington.Referring to recent developments in bilateral trade negotiations, Ramesh said, “The US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is in New Delhi today and tomorrow. On the request of PM Modi, while he was under pressure from @RahulGandhi’s expose in Parliament of his cowardice in front of China, an India-US Joint statement on trade was issued on February 6, 2026. The US promised to reduce tariffs on Indian exports from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. India promised to eliminate its tariffs or reduce them deeply on US agricultural commodities and industrial products and purchase up to $500 billion from the US over five years.”He further referred to a ruling by the US Supreme Court and its implications for the proposed tariff concessions.“On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court of the US ruled that President Trump’s reciprocal tariff strategy was illegal. The very tariff concession that the US had offered India in the February 6, 2026, joint statement effectively disappeared overnight. Within hours of the US Supreme Court ruling, the US imposed a temporary 10 per cent tariff on all its trading partners, including India. The legal basis for this expires on July 24, 2026. There is considerable uncertainty on what will happen thereafter,” he added.Ramesh criticised the interim trade arrangement, claiming that India had agreed to sharply reduce or eliminate tariffs on a range of American industrial, agricultural and food products despite uncertainty over future US tariff policy.
