Bhopal, February 19 The opposition Congress created a commotion in the Madhya Pradesh assembly on Thursday over the deaths caused by contaminated water in Indore and demanded the resignation of two state ministers, with the state government admitting in the assembly that the crisis has claimed a total of 22 lives.
Notably, in the "death audit" report submitted to the MP High Court last month, the Mohan Yadav-led BJP government had said that 16 people died in December 2025 due to an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by consumption of contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore. However, the Congress has been claiming that 35 people have died.
Due to the commotion, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar had to adjourn the assembly twice.
The budget session of the MP legislative assembly is currently underway.
On Thursday, the assembly functioned smoothly for a while during the Question Hour. However, as soon as the issue of deaths due to the waterborne disease outbreak in Indore came up, and the Congress demanded the resignation of two ministers and the mayor of Indore,
Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar termed the incident a failure of the system and demanded the resignation of Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla.
He claimed that while 35 people have died in Indore due to the contaminated water, the ministers responsible were present in the assembly.
"These ministers should resign on moral grounds," Singhar said.
The LoP termed the compensation of Rs 2 lakh each given to the deceased as inadequate, and demanded that the amount be increased to at least Rs 4 lakh.
Congress members began creating a commotion and shouting slogans demanding the ministers' resignations.
Amid the din, health minister Shukla admitted that 22 people have died in Indore due to water contamination.
"A total of 22 deaths have been officially confirmed due to acute diarrhoea since December 21, 2025," he said.
A compensation of Rs 2 lakh each had been paid to the kin of the deceased, he said.
He told the assembly members that a total of 459 people were hospitalised, and some of them are still undergoing treatment.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who was present in the assembly, said that the matter was above politics and there should be no opposition in it.
"A senior administrative officer found guilty in this case has been suspended, and as far as compensation is concerned, the government will not back down, and it could even be increased to Rs 4 lakh or Rs 5 lakh," he said.
Despite this, the Congress members continued to protest. Consequently, Tomar adjourned the assembly for 10 minutes.
When the proceedings of the assembly resumed after the first adjournment, the opposition members sat near the Speaker's podium and began shouting slogans again.
Tomar repeatedly requested the agitating members to return to their seats and allow the business of the assembly to be transacted. However, as the commotion continued, he adjourned the assembly till 2 pm.