Nine years ago, Ujjain’s pilgrimage city master plan got a major boost with the allocation of about 820 acres of land for the Simhastha Mela Satellite town. But controversy flared up earlier this year as a major chunk of this agricultural land turned into a private residential colony, with most of it owned by BJP’s Dr Mohan Yadav – now the party’s pick to be the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister.
The three-time Ujjain South MLA’s role in the land controversy sparked discontent among both Congress and BJP workers. It purportedly also led to a heated exchange between Yadav and BJP MLA Paras Jain. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan played peace-maker, and also restored the land’s original status.
