New Delhi: Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has questioned the Madhya Pradesh government over the demolition of tribal families’ homes in Kosmi village in Sehore district. The demolition reportedly affected 12 families from the Barela tribal community in Budhni, Chouhan’s former Assembly constituency.“This is a conspiracy by some officials to malign the party,” said Chouhan, the Indian Express reports. He blamed forest department officials and said that he had earlier intervened to prevent this demolition.He also suggeted that the demolitions were done without the current chief minister Mohan Yadav’s knowledge. He said he would inform Yadav about them.“We win because of their votes, and Mohan ji became chief minister because of their votes. This is truly very painful for me,” Chouhan said after meeting the affected families, who are staging a dharna and protest locally.Kosmi village, where the homes were demolished, falls within the Budhni constituency, from where Chouhan was elected to the state Assembly. It now falls within his parliamentary constituency, Vidisha. He said, “The limits of oppression and injustice have been crossed in my constituency.”The farmers are also protesting over the destruction of their fields and crops in the demolition drive.Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Congress party’s Umang Singhar, attributed the demolitions to “internal differences” within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, which he said was overshadowing public concerns. He said Yadav must clarify what steps would be taken.“Mohan Yadav ji, when your own former chief minister is raising questions, you too must clarify when the government will take concrete steps,” Singhar said.Chauhan sat with the protesters, who wept in his presence, and then he called Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Ashok Barnwal. NDTV reports that he also spoke to state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal.NDTV reports citing state Forest Development Corporation officials that the tribal farmers’ huts were demolished after they were served notice and that the action was taken after they had replaced a plantation and sown their own crops instead.In June 2025, the Madhya Pradesh government sought to evict tribal residents living close to the Khivni Wildlife Sanctuary, also in Sehore district, where Chouhan was born and also contested elections from. The tribals were given a reprieve until the monsoon season was over after the former chief minister intervened.“I will tell the chief minister about this injustice, their sobs, the tears in their eyes, their crushed fields and their ruined future. This seems to me to be a conspiracy to malign the chief minister as well,” he said.In July 2026, Chouhan had challenged the state government during the moong dal procurement crisis, saying that the problem was the pace of procurement rather than the Union government, which he said had approved 4.54 lakh metric tonnes.