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New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of maintaining silence over deaths caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore, even as the Centre continues to aggressively promote flagship schemes such as the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
In a Hindi post on X, Kharge said Modi “never gets tired of trumpeting” the Jal Jeevan Mission, but had failed to speak about the loss of lives in Indore due to polluted water. He pointed out the irony that the tragedy occurred in Indore, which has been ranked India’s cleanest city for the eighth consecutive year in the Centre’s Swachh Sarvekshan survey.
“It is shameful that because of the BJP’s incompetence, people in Indore are desperate for clean drinking water,” Kharge said, alleging that the Modi government and BJP-led administrations have failed to ensure even necessities such as safe water and clean air.
The Congress chief said that for the past 11 years, the country had been fed “long speeches, lies, empty promises and the boast of a so-called double-engine government.” He alleged that when ministers are questioned on governance failures, they respond with intimidation and abuse, and that the state machinery is routinely deployed to shield BJP governments from accountability.
Kharge further alleged that corruption had seeped into government schemes, claiming that even funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission—including allocations meant for purifying contaminated water—were mired in irregularities. “The common people are the ones suffering,” he said.
The political attack comes amid a significant public health crisis in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, where at least 10 people have died following a diarrhoea outbreak linked to contaminated drinking water. More than 1,400 residents have reportedly been affected by vomiting and diarrhoea over the past nine days.
On Thursday, Chief Medical and Health Officer Madhav Prasad Hasani said laboratory tests conducted by a city medical college confirmed that a leak in a drinking water pipeline had contaminated the local water supply. Officials said the leak was detected near a police outpost in Bhagirathpura, at a point where a toilet had been constructed over the pipeline.
While the CMHO confirmed contamination, detailed findings of the laboratory report were not made public. The incident has triggered widespread outrage and renewed scrutiny of urban infrastructure, public health preparedness and the effectiveness of flagship water and sanitation schemes, even as political sparring between the Congress and the BJP intensifies over responsibility for the tragedy.
