New Delhi: Conscious that his predecessor faced brickbats despite popularity for leaning on bureaucrats, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is cultivating the image of a mass leader who can act tough as well for capturing the popular imagination in his state.
Acting tough on administrative matters, Yadav has ‘punished’ nine district collectors, three superintendents of police and one divisional commissioner by attaching them to headquarters.
The three-time BJP legislator has taken cue from Chouhan’s ‘past mistakes’ to stop giving a free hand to bureaucrats and cracked whip on the likes of Sonkatch tehsildar Anjali Gupta and Shajapur collector Kishore Kumar Kanyal.
Last week on Thursday, Gupta was seen in a video rudely talking to farmers following an altercation in Kumariya Rao village. By the end of the day, the CMO gave orders to attach Gupta to the district headquarters.
Yadav tweeted that he had seen the video and instructed the Dewas collector to take action. “Officers should use civilised and decent language with the common people. This type of abusive language will not be tolerated at all,” he tweeted originally in Hindi.
मुख्यमंत्री डॉ. मोहन यादव ने सोशल मीडिया पर देवास जिले के सोनकच्छ तहसीलदार के वायरल हो रहे वीडियो को संज्ञान में लिया है। मुख्यमंत्री डॉ. यादव ने कहा कि, अधिकारी आम लोगों के साथ सभ्य और शालीन भाषा का इस्तेमाल करें। इस तरह की अभद्र भाषा बिल्कुल भी बर्दाश्त नहीं की जाएगी। मेरे…
— Chief Minister, MP (@CMMadhyaPradesh) January 15, 2024
Kanyal, too, was shunted out after the IAS officer questioned the ‘aukat’ (status) of a truck driver at a meeting on 2 January. The CM took action within the next 24 hours by replacing him with Narsinghpur collector Riju Bafna. Kanyal was shifted to Bhopal as an under-secretary.
“The language used by the Shajapur collector is not tolerated in our government. I am the son of a farmer… In such a situation, officers should not use such language and should take care of their behaviour. The officers who speak such language do not have the right to be in the field,” Yadav told the local media, expressing displeasure.
Last month, Yadav transferred state transport commissioner Sanjay Kumar Jha, district collector Tarun Rathi and superintendent of police Vijay Khatri after the Guna bus accident that took place late at night on 27 December claimed 13 lives.
The Guna chief medical officer and the regional transport officer were suspended by the chief minister, who reached the accident spot the next morning and met the grieving families of those who had lost their lives.
Yadav then ordered a major reshuffle in the transport department, apart from punitive action against officials of the Gwalior division. Principal Secretary Sukhveer Singh, who had additional charge of transport, was replaced with Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Kumar Rajora.
Soon after taking over the office on 13 December, Yadav in Chindwara publicly warned the collector that he would face action if the patwari is taken to task for non-performance.
भूमि की रजिस्ट्री के बाद पटवारी को उसका नामांतरण करना पड़ेगा; इसमें लापरवाही करने वाले पटवारियों और जिम्मेदार अफसरों के विरुद्ध कड़ी कार्रवाई की जायेगी। pic.twitter.com/XZByvY768b
— Dr Mohan Yadav (@DrMohanYadav51) December 19, 2023
In the first week of January, Jabalpur collector Saurabh Kumar Suman was removed the next day after a review meeting in which many BJP workers complained about his behaviour and ‘non-availability’.
Congress state spokesperson K. K. Mishra found nothing wrong with action taken against erring officers. “It was necessary because in Madhya Pradesh, bureaucrats were running the system for the last 18 years and they lost sensitivity towards the common man. They accumulated wealth and, thus, should be held accountable,” he said.
Former bureaucrat S.K. Mishra, who was known to be Shivraj’s trouble shooter and served as his principal secretary, commented these actions were routine changes. “Every CM has the right to make changes in his team. The bureaucracy has a defined role in the system,” he told ThePrint.
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Tough image for a purpose
Even at the height of his popularity, Shivraj had to contend with the BJP high command which felt that an unchecked bureaucracy was a bane, according to the party insiders.
Unlike Shivraj, Yadav reviews the zonal administrative matters at their headquarters rather than in Bhopal. The CM has directed additional chief secretaries to hit the ground running for reviewing development work of districts and zones.
Similarly, the ADGs are deputed to look after law and order by visiting their jurisdiction headquarters. Ten senior IAS and IPS officers were tasked to look after the 10 zones of the state.
“Whether it is about banning the use of loud speakers or convening a cabinet meeting outside Bhopal, he (Yadav) is trying to break the ceiling and sending a message that he will not hesitate in taking tough decisions,” a BJP state functionary said.
The CM knows that there was a widespread complaint that bureaucrats run the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, a senior BJP state leader told ThePrint.
“Several leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya publicly asked Shivraj to tame the bureaucracy for pacifying party workers. In the later stages, Shivraj realised his mistake and started to admonish bureaucrats. Yadav knows the mistake of Shivraj, who was at the helm of affairs for the last 18 years… Not only does he want to fix accountability of bureaucracy, but also send a message that people’s perception matters more in dealing with bureaucrats,” he told ThePrint.
BJP state general secretary Bhagwandas Sabnani told ThePrint that the chief minister has acted only against those officers whose public behaviour was “not proper”. “He himself comes from a poor family. … No officer has the right to disrespect them (the poor).”
Sabnami’s colleague Rajneesh Agrawal, too, asserted that the government wants to fix accountability of officers. “It’s the people’s government so those who are not following its ideals and principles, they are only being punished.”
A minister from the previous cabinet told ThePrint that Shivraj earned the image of ‘Mama’ through delivery of welfare schemes for nearly two decades.
“Since he remains very popular and the Centre has not deputed any responsibility to him, he has been meeting people and participating in different programmes. He has a constant presence in the state. Yadav has to build his image through delivery of work and through new initiatives because Shivraj has drawn a big line. He (Yadav) will have to draw a bigger line,” the former minister explained.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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