New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi targeted the governing BJP over deaths from contaminated water, calling the tragedy evidence of BJP’s “empty” claims and corruption, and lamenting that PM Modi always prefers silence when the poor die.Rahul said Madhya Pradesh has become the “epicentre of misgovernance” where unhygienic water deaths have been preceded by deaths from cough syrups and rats killing infants in govt hospitals. “Not water, but poison was distributed in Indore, and the administration remained in deep slumber,” he said.Alleging corruption in all the central govt schemes including Jal Jeevan Mission that Modi “never gets tired of trumpeting” about, Kharge pointed out that Indore has won the “cleanest city” award for eight consecutive years under the Centre’s “swacch sarvekshan survey”. The Congress brass, without naming the viral spat between a senior MP minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and a journalist, said the govt showed brazen arrogance when the families of the victims needed solace. “When ministers are questioned, they resort to abuse 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 govts,” Kharge said. Asking when would action be initiated against officials and leaders, Rahul said clean water is not a favour, but its “right to life” that has been destroyed by the “insensitive” govt. Kharge said the govt has fed India with empty promises for last 11 years, but has “failed to provide either clean water or clean air”.
