New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has landed himself in hot water over his response to a reporter who asked him about the deaths in Indore allegedly from contaminated drinking water.
Vijayvargiya, a BJP heavyweight from Indore, was visiting the affected area, where the reporter asked him why residents continued to get unclean drinking water. “Chodo yaar, phokat prashn mat puchiye (leave it, don’t ask useless questions),” the minister responded, using a derogatory term.
As his reaction became a talking point on social media, he apologised and expressed regret for losing his temper while responding to media questions.
“My team and I have been continuously working to improve the situation in the affected area without sleep for the past two days. My people are suffering from contaminated water, and some have left us; in this state of deep sorrow, my words came out wrong in response to a media question. For this, I express regret. But until my people are completely safe and healthy, I will not sit quietly,” the BJP minister posted on X Wednesday.
Apart from the “useless questions” comment, the minister is also facing backlash for saying, “I cannot comment on the number of deaths at this time.”
At least seven people have died while roughly 150 have been hospitalised after drinking contaminated water in Indore. Claims, though, have been conflicting, with residents Thursday noting 13 deaths. A day earlier, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had put the toll at four. On Wednesday only, the city mayor had announced a death toll of seven.
Vijayvargiya also told reporters Wednesday that the Madhya Pradesh government would provide Rs two lakh each to the families of those who died. “The number of patients arriving has decreased….Those in serious condition were sent to the hospital. We have 100 beds available at Arvind Hospital and a 100-bed ward at MY Hospital….Some children have been sent to Chacha Nehru Hospital,” said the BJP leader, who is from Indore and considered close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Amit Shah, post-his elevation to the BJP national president post, shifted to Delhi in 2014 and summoned Vijayvargiya, who was appointed the Haryana BJP in-charge during the 2014 assembly polls. The party won that election.
ThePrint earlier reported that his aggressive organisational skills were considered handy, with Vijayvargiya emerging as Amit Shah’s man. The then-party chief entrusted him with the responsibility of winning the West Bengal elections, as well. But he could not deliver.
According to the Madhya Pradesh BJP leadership, the focus during the current water crisis should be on relief work—not words.
“Kailash ji has already expressed regret over his comments. He did not mean it at all, and his sentiments were actually not what came out in that particular moment. The BJP respects the media, and the CM is personally monitoring this entire case. Our focus is on providing relief to victims as well as those unwell. Two officers have already been suspended, and we will do everything that is required,” said BJP Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.
A man of controversies
Vijayvargiya represents the Indore-1 assembly constituency, which he won back in 2023. Earlier considered the most powerful national general secretary of the BJP under the party presidencies of Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda, the BJP leader has courted controversy several times before.
Earlier this year, Vijayvargiya put Madhya Pradesh’s ruling BJP in a tight spot with his comment about women’s clothing. At a public event in Indore in June, the BJP leader said, “I don’t like girls who wear skimpy clothes.”
He didn’t stop, explaining that “skimpy clothes” were a foreign concept. “In India, we consider a girl beautiful when she dresses well, wears jewellery, and adorns herself gracefully,” Vijayvargiya remarked.
These remarks were made while comparing leaders’ short speeches with women’s short clothes.
Vijayvargiya once again triggered a political storm this year, with his controversial comments on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking at a public programme, the BJP leader claimed that Rahul was influenced by foreign culture. To illustrate this, he said: “He (Rahul Gandhi) kisses his sister in a public square while, in Indian culture, people do not even drink water in their sister’s village.”
When the backlash came, he claimed his words had been misinterpreted.
The Congress, on the other hand, staged demonstrations at various places in Madhya Pradesh and burnt his effigies as a mark of protest.
In October this year, Vijayvargiya was also accused of victim-blaming two Australian women cricketers after their alleged molestation in Indore.
The women should have informed the local administration or their teams’ security officials before stepping out, Vijayvargiya said after the incident. The cricketers, according to him, should have been “careful”.
In 2020, ThePrint reported that Vijayvargiya claimed to have detected “Bangladeshis” among construction workers at his house on observing them eating “only poha (flattened rice)”, thereby creating a huge outrage on social media. The BJP leader’s statement in Indore had come at a seminar in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Much earlier in 2023, Vijayvargiya opined that women who were “badly dressed” looked like “Surpanakha”. Reacting to this, the Opposition had labelled his comment as “sexist” and “misogynistic” and demanded an apology.
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Political row
Vijayvargiya, who, in the past, has served as the mayor of Indore, is under attack from the Opposition, which is now demanding the BJP leader’s resignation over the deaths due to toxic water.
Sharing the video of his spat with the reporter, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief Jitu Patwari claimed that while the BJP leaders continued to be arrogant, the deaths in Indore had increased from eight to 10. Patwari said CM Mohan Yadav should seek Vijayvargiya’s resignation on moral grounds.
Apart from the Congress, leaders of other opposition parties have slammed Vijayvargiya and the BJP.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi reacted to the Indore water contamination, saying the BJP only cared about bulldozer action against Muslims.
“They can’t even provide water and claim to be Vishwaguru,” he added.
Even as the party refused to comment, a senior BJP leader said Vijavvargiya should be more careful in the future.
“The entire focus of the government is on bringing relief. Such irresponsible remarks take the focus away from the real issue,” said a senior BJP leader in MP on the condition of anonymity.
“Rather than focusing on relief work, the party is now busy addressing the fallout of his statement. The CM, though, is completely focused, personally monitoring the relief. In this scenario, other leaders should be more responsible—this is not the first time he has made such a remark.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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