‘Letter’ fuels power tussle rumours in M.P.

The long-running buzz about a power tussle between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and senior Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya intensified on Wednesday after a local report claimed that the latter has written a letter to the CM raising various concerns such as non-cooperation and alleging neglect of Indore, his home turf, by the government.

Warning issued

The report, published by a Hindi daily, also cited the letter to claim that the Urban Development and Housing and Parliamentary Affairs Minister has alleged that officials in the departments he heads are transferred without his knowledge. According to the report, he has also issued a warning about going to the public if matters concerning Indore’s development are not resolved soon.

“As the head of the State and the Minister in charge of my home district [Indore], I expected cooperation from you. However, over the past two and a half years, I have received only non-cooperation, neglect and opposition. Transfers within my department are being made without my knowledge. Far from accelerating Indore’s development, it is not even receiving its due rights. If these issues are not resolved, I will be forced to raise the voices of the people of Indore on a public platform,” the report cited the letter as saying.

Mr. Vijayvargiya, as per the report, also raised five issues in the letter alleging Indore’s neglect, including delay in releasing the city’s next master plan and leaving it out from educational and infrastructural projects linked to the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, slated for 2028 in Ujjain.

He has also alleged neglect against the Indore-Pithampur industrial area and delays in various projects, while also expressing his displeasure over including Ujjain in plans to develop a metropolitan region around Indore and naming it Indore-Ujjain metropolitan region.

Responding to reporters’ questions, the Minister said, “I don’t know where you learned about this letter. You should ask the newspaper people where it came from and whether it’s true or false.”

‘Infighting within govt.’

The Opposition Congress, however, targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over “infighting” within the government. “The gurus have turned into jaggery, and the disciples have become refined sugar! Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya finally had to write a letter to the Chief Minister, bringing up the neglect of development in Indore! In this battle for power and dominance, the public is the one dying!” the party stated in a release.

“After gaining full control in Ujjain, the CM has sidelined the stalwarts to establish his dominance in Indore too!”

A senior BJP leader from Indore told The Hindu that “this is not the first letter he has written to the CM”.

While Mr. Vijayvargiya, an MLA from Indore, was among the probables for the CM post after the BJP swept 2023 Assembly poll, the current tussle is largely believed to be over dominance in Indore, the State’s financial capital, and Mr. Yadav’s focus on his home town of Ujjain.

Rumours of a conflict between the two have been circulating in the State’s power corridors. Mr. Vijayvargiya and various BJP leaders from Indore have often alleged in their public addresses that government and civic officials in the city have stopped listening to them.

During a public event in Indore in December 2025, Mr. Vijayvargiya is learnt to have told the CM that officials “intimidated us using your name”. In 2025, Mr. Vijayvargiya was among the few senior Ministers who had skipped multiple Cabinet meetings in a row. The current controversy also comes amid speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle after the Assembly’s Monsoon Session.