Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 17 : Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao on Saturday said that it is the responsibility and duty of Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi to visit Indore and understand the problems faced by families whose kin lost their lives due to water contamination.
He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of politicising the issue and asserted that Rahul Gandhi has the right to visit Indore.
"Several people died after drinking contaminated water in Indore. It is an opposition leader's responsibility and moral duty to meet those people and understand their problems and grievances. Being an opposition leader, it is Rahul Gandhi's right to go there, but the BJP is politicising the issue," Rao told ANI.
Rahul Gandhi will visit Indore to meet the families of the people who died.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress said in an X post that he will visit Indore on January 17.
Congress has slammed the Madhya Pradesh government over the issue. It staged a protest on Sunday over the contaminated water issue in Indore's Bhagirathpura area.
Prominent leaders, including PCC Chief Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, senior leader Digvijaya Singh, Sajjan Singh Verma, and Meenakshi Natarajan, were among those who took part in the protest.
Addressing the media as the march reached Rajwada from the Bada Ganpati area, Umang Singhar said, "Twenty-one people died, but it makes no difference to the BJP; no one wants to take responsibility. They did not care for the Hindu families of Bhagirathpura, yet they claim to worry about Hindus in Bangladesh."
On January 7, Indore District Collector Shivam Verma said a survey of water lines is underway in the district, adding that borewells are also being inspected.
The district official said affected families were given financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each and free treatment was being provided to people undergoing treatment."
According to the survey work being conducted in Bhagirathpura, the number of patients who were continuously showing symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea has decreased significantly," Verma had told ANI.