In this image received on Sept. 8, 2026, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a meeting with members of the Local Business Community, Raebareli. (AICC via PTI Photo)
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh over the death of more than 30 tribal children due to various diseases in Balaghat district, claiming that the state government is India's most corrupt and incompetent.
Gandhi also slammed Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and said if he finds time after lighting lamps and holding celebrations, he must take a look at the ground reality in the state.
"In Balaghat, more than 30 tribal children have died amid illness, malnutrition and a lack of basic health facilities. The extent of the callousness is such that innocent lives kept slipping away, yet the response remained sluggish, and the government kept sleeping," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said in a post in Hindi on X.
"Chief Minister ji, if you've found time after lighting lamps and holding celebrations, take a look at the ground reality in the state," he wrote.
Lack of disease control, nutrition and clean water, along with a crumbling health system, is claiming the lives of children, he alleged.
Adulterated medicines and poisonous illegal liquor are devastating hundreds of families, Gandhi added.
"I am heading to Indore and I am continuously gathering feedback from students, youth and common people across the state. The horrific incidents coming to light are revealing that Madhya Pradesh's education system is today the most ruined in the entire country," he said.
Students, children, the poor, Dalits, tribals, backward classes or women - every section is being tormented and no one is happy, the Congress leader claimed.
"The Madhya Pradesh government is today India's most corrupt and most incompetent government - that is the truth," Gandhi said.
Later, in a post on his WhatsApp channel, Gandhi claimed that Madhya Pradesh is the RSS-BJP's laboratory, where an experiment to increase illiteracy and unemployment is underway.
"I am coming to Indore - to expose this experiment, explain this game of stealing the future, and unveil the truth. We will not allow anyone to play with students' lives under any circumstances. We are determined to secure the right to education and employment," Gandhi said, referring to his Chhatron Ki Goonj programme on Saturday.
The Congress on Wednesday had demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla over the death of tribal children in Balaghat.
Last week, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had sought a response from the state government over the deaths while hearing a PIL.
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 coming out of handpumps in the affected areas and that children and women had not received nutritious food on time for several months.
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