Rahul Gandhi calls MP government most corrupt over Balaghat tribal child deaths

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh over the deaths of more than 30 tribal children in Balaghat district, describing the State administration as the most corrupt and incompetent in the country.

In a post in Hindi on X, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the children had died amid illness, malnutrition and a shortage of basic health facilities. He alleged that the response to the crisis was slow and that the government remained indifferent while lives were lost.

Mr. Gandhi directed his criticism at Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, asking him to look at conditions on the ground once he had time away from lighting lamps and attending celebrations. He alleged that weak disease control, poor nutrition, unsafe drinking water and a crumbling health system were costing children their lives, and that adulterated medicines and poisonous illegal liquor were ruining hundreds of families.

Referring to his ongoing tour, Mr. Gandhi said he was travelling to Indore and gathering feedback from students, young people and ordinary citizens across the State. He claimed the incidents surfacing showed that Madhya Pradesh's education system was the most ruined in the country, and that students, children, the poor, Dalits, tribals, backward classes and women were all suffering.

In a later post on his WhatsApp channel, he described Madhya Pradesh as a laboratory of the RSS-BJP where, he alleged, illiteracy and unemployment were being allowed to grow. He said his Indore visit, tied to his Chhatron Ki Goonj programme on Saturday, was aimed at exposing what he called a theft of the future, and asserted that his party would not permit anyone to play with students' lives.

The Congress had on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla over the Balaghat deaths.

Last week, the Madhya Pradesh High Court sought a response from the State government on a PIL concerning the deaths. The petition alleged inadequate treatment and claimed that around 400 children were being treated at a hospital with a capacity of 50 beds. It also alleged that yellow-coloured water was flowing from handpumps in the affected areas and that children and women had not received nutritious food on time for several months.