Indore contaminated water deaths: Kharge questions Modi’s silence, says Centre failed
Indore contaminated water deaths: Kharge questions Modi’s silence, says Centre failed to ensure clean water, clean air
M.U.H
03/01/202638
Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept trumpeting the Jal Jeevan Mission but was silent on deaths caused by contaminated water in Indore, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on Friday (January 2, 2026).
In a post on X, the Congress chief claimed that the Modi government and the BJP failed to provide either clean water or clean air to the country.
“Narendra Modi ji, who never gets tired of trumpeting the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, is maintaining his usual silence on the deaths caused by drinking contaminated water in Indore,” Mr. Kharge said in his post.
“This is the same Indore city that has clinched the ‘Cleanest City’ title for the eighth consecutive time in the Central government’s Swachh Sarvekshan survey. It’s a shameful state of affairs that, due to the BJP’s incompetence, people here are desperate for clean water,” he added.
The Congress chief said for 11 years, “the country was fed nothing but long speeches, lies and deceit, empty promises, and boasts about the double-engine government”.
“When Ministers are questioned, they resort to abuses and intimidation. Drunk on the arrogance of power, they turn the tables on the journalists. The entire machinery swings into action to cover up the misgovernance of BJP governments,” he said.
Mr. Kharge alleged that all the government’s schemes were mired in corruption and foul play, and said that 10% of the Jal Jeevan Mission fund was allocated for purifying contaminated water.
“The Modi government and the BJP have failed to provide either clean water or clean air to the country. The common people are the ones suffering,” the Congress chief said.
His party colleague and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused the government of providing “poison instead of water”.
“Not water, but poison was distributed in Indore, and the administration remained in deep slumber,” Mr. Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.
“Every home is filled with mourning, the poor are helpless - and on top of that, BJP leaders are making arrogant statements. Those who lost their lives and livelihoods needed solace; the government offered arrogance,” the Opposition leader said.
While the Madhya Pradesh government had confirmed that four people died of a diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore, the Congress put the death toll at 15.
