A front-page exposé on MP CM’s family land deals. But primetime couldn’t care less

Remember the primetime coverage of 2G, Commonwealth Games, Robert Vadra’s land deals in the UPA years? None of it would have been possible without the unspoken compact between print and television. Where one format would follow the stories broken by the other.

But it seems that compact is gone.

On Tuesday morning, The Indian Express published an investigation by reporter Jay Mazoomdaar into land deals involving the family of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. The findings were stark: from the day Yadav took oath in December 2023 until December 2025, his wife, daughter-in-law, brothers, and first cousins, acquired at least 137 plots totalling 168 acres, for approximately Rs 45 crore. Most of these plots sit either along new road projects announced around Ujjain or in areas being rezoned from agricultural to residential and commercial use. The family already held 179 acres before these purchases began.

The investigation described, in granular detail, how the state apparatus appeared to function as a wealth multiplier for the Chief Minister’s family. A senior state government official’s response, when contacted, was that it was “not appropriate to link the business or land dealings of the Chief Minister’s family with the Chief Minister and his office.”

It was, by any measure, a story that warranted primetime attention. It got almost none.

Of all the anchors across all the major Hindi and English news channels that evening, only one – Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today – took it up. 

He noted: “A BIG story that not surprisingly most TV channels on prime time have chosen to ignore. Will MP CMO answer the serious questions raised by this Indian Express investigation into land deals in Ujjain?”

What were the other channels discussing? 

Anjana Om Kashyap on Aaj Tak covered the Lucknow gaming centre fire, a pharma scam, TMC’s party funds, and ethanol. 

Arnab Goswami on Republic TV debated the re-NEET examination and AAP’s alleged use of AI-generated helpline images. 

Rubika Liyaquat, the newly minted senior executive editor at Times Now Navbharat, covered the same Lucknow fire, four students caught in traffic at a Rahul Gandhi rally, and why we pour full glasses of water for guests.  

Sushant Sinha, also of Times Now Navbharat, covered the Lucknow fire, the alleged theft at Ram Mandir, an encounter in UP, and why mosquitoes prefer certain people over others. 

Rahul Shivshankar of News18 focused on BJP’s emerging younger leadership, while on its sister channel News18 India, Amish Devgan ran a debate on whether Congress can beat BJP in UP’s 2027 assembly elections.

NDTV’s slate that evening was similarly occupied elsewhere. On NDTV 24x7, Shiv Aroor tracked the TMC rebellion and the statements of rebel MPs before pivoting to national security briefs. Padmaja Joshi interviewed legal experts on the anti-defection implications for West Bengal’s rebel MLAs. On NDTV India, Sucherita Kukreti covered bulldozer action in Bihar and municipal safety inspections following the Lucknow fire. Syed Suhail highlighted the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s crackdown on illegal encroachments and filed ground reports on the Lucknow complex fire’s safety violations. 

Sudhir Chaudhary on DD News, meanwhile, covered the Lucknow fire and a murder investigation. None of them touched Ujjain.

Oddly enough, even social media accounts in the pro-Hindutva ecosystem didn’t shy away from highlighting the Express report and expressing their criticism. 

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