Winter Session of M.P. Assembly begins with protests over cough syrup tragedy, short duration of session

The first day of the Winter Session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly was convened on Monday, December 1, 2025, with a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Opposition Congress MLAs over the tragedies that led to the deaths of many children in the state in the last few months.

The four-day session began with members expressing condolences to various people, including film actor and former Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra, former Union Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal and the victims of the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort.

However, the condolence session turned heated between both parties when Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar brought up the recent cough syrup tragedy that killed 26 children in Chhindwara and surrounding areas and criticized the government for not including these children in the condolence list.

“There have been three tragedies in a row in the state and it is surprising that the government does not address the deaths, does not express condolences, does not mention them. Has the government lost its humanity?” Mr. Singhar said this in the Parliament and also criticized the government over the death of two children bitten by rats at Indore’s state-run MY Hospital.

Mr Singhar is demanding increased compensation for the victims’ families.

However, his remarks drew criticism from Cabinet Minister Vishwas Sarang, who accused the LoP of violating House rules by talking about issues outside the list, leading to a war of words between the Treasury and Opposition benches.

Before the hearing began, Congress MLAs staged a demonstration at the premises, where MLA Sena Patel dressed as a demon and wore a garland of cough syrup bottles while carrying puppet dolls to protest tragedies involving children.

Congress MLAs also targeted the government during the short sessions, alleging that there was a conspiracy to “diminish” the role of legislators.

“Problems are constantly increasing in admissions in the state and the sessions are getting shorter. This is a conspiracy to reduce the role of legislators. What is the point of a 3-day, 4-day session? Why does the government want to escape from the Parliament? It does not even want to listen. Where will the legislators express their views? How will the problems of the people be expressed? All the farmers, all the students are protesting. If you do not want to hold sessions and discuss [issues]What is the point of having a Legislative Assembly?” said Badnawar MLA Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat.

The ongoing session will consist of four sessions till December 5 and will coincide with the 41st anniversary of the December 3, 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

The BJP and Congress MLAs also sparred over compensation to farmers for crop damage due to excessive rain, price difference compensation to Soyabean farmers under the Bhavantar Scheme, and allegations of mismanagement and shortage of fertilizers at distribution centres.