IAS Body Slams BJP MLA For Clashing With District Collector In Madhya Pradesh's Bhind

The Madhya Pradesh IAS Officers' Association has launched a strong protest against BJP MLA Narendra Singh Kushwaha and his supporters after they entered the official bungalow of Bhind Collector Sanjeev Srivastava, hurled abuses, and nearly assaulted him during a heated confrontation over fertiliser shortages.

Association president Manu Srivastava led a delegation of officers to meet Chief Secretary Anurag Jain to lodge their protest, and will also meet Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav on Friday. The association is demanding that the state government take firm action to ensure such "humiliating and dangerous" incidents are not repeated.

The outrage has spread beyond the IAS fraternity. The MP Third Class Employees Union also condemned the incident. Its General Secretary, Umashankar Tiwari, said: "If public representatives take the law into their own hands, it will send a wrong message to society and paralyse administration. Officers and employees will not be able to work under fear."

The flashpoint came on Wednesday, when Kushwaha arrived at the collector's bungalow with a group of farmers angry at restrictions limiting fertiliser distribution to two bags per farmer. When the collector did not immediately meet him, the MLA barged inside, shouting, "Today I will make the public enter your house."

Witnesses say tempers exploded when Collector Srivastava told the MLA to "stay within his limits" and asserted that he would not allow sand theft in the district. Kushwaha retorted by calling the collector a "thief" and allegedly clenched his fist to strike him, before being held back by the collector's gunner. Outside, his supporters chanted slogans: "Bhind Collector is a thief."

The bungalow turned into a protest site with a dharna, tents, a sound system, and coolers being set up as Kushwaha declared he would not move until the collector was ousted. Senior police officers, including SP Dr Asit Yadav, rushed in to prevent escalation. The standoff was eventually defused after intervention from the Chief Minister's Office.

The controversy also shines a spotlight on MLA Kushwaha's turbulent political career. First elected as a BJP MLA from Bhind in 2003, he defected to the Samajwadi Party in 2008 after being denied a ticket, indirectly causing the BJP's defeat.

He rejoined the BJP in 2013 to regain the seat, left again in 2018, and contested on an SP ticket but lost. Returning once more ahead of the 2023 polls, he managed to win Bhind for the third time.