Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Congress strongly criticised the BJP government on Saturday. A joint press conference was held at the Rajiv Gandhi Auditorium in the State Congress Office in Bhopal. Former Minister PC Sharma, Bhopal City District Congress Committee President Praveen Saxena, and State Spokesperson Rahul Raj addressed the media.
Praveen Saxena termed the Bhagirathpura incident “government-sponsored murders”. He blamed criminal negligence and administrative failure by the BJP government, and alleged that twenty people died and more than one thousand citizens fell ill due to poisonous water.
In protest, the Madhya Pradesh Congress will hold a state-level Nyay Yatra (march for justice) on Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 11 a.m. The march will start from Bada Ganpati Temple and proceed to Rajwada Chowk near the statue of Maa Ahilyabai Holkar in Indore, Saxena said. Senior leaders, elected representatives, office-bearers, party workers and many common citizens will join the protest, he added.
The Congress leaders said their main demands include immediate removal of the Indore mayor, resignation of Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya for his insensitive statements to the press, and compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the deceased instead of Rs 2 lakh. The Congress leaders also called for a judicial inquiry into the matter and registration of culpable homicide cases against those responsible. They said the struggle will continue from the streets to Parliament until justice is served to the victims.
Targeting the ruling BJP government and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, PC Sharma said Madhya Pradesh already carries a debt of Rs 4 lakh crore from the time of Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s tenure. He added that the new 60:40 ratio in MNREGA expenditure will put an extra burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the state every year. He pointed out that e-KYC verification is pending for 90.5 per cent of active MNREGA workers, the highest in the country. He described these policies as anti-labour and said the poor are being deliberately deprived of their rights.
The Congress opposes this law and demands its immediate withdrawal by the Modi government. It will intensify the Save MNREGA campaign from every panchayat to the streets.
Rahul Raj accused Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of being the main architect behind replacing MNREGA with the new act. He called it a direct attack on the right to work for the poor and “a murder of Gandhi’s ideals of Gram Swaraj”. He said the new law will add an annual burden of Rs 5,000 crore to the state’s existing debt of Rs 4.5 lakh crore. He criticised the provision to suspend work for 60 days during the harvest season, alleging that it is a conspiracy to force labourers into migration and cheap labour.
He questioned whether MNREGA workers’ wages will now face delays similar to crop insurance payments. He accused Shivraj Singh Chouhan of speaking of Ram while acting against the rights of labourers and farmers.
(IANS)
