M.P. Assembly’s Budget Session begins with uproar over Indore deaths during Governor’s address

The Budget Session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly witnessed a stormy opening on Monday, February 16, 2026; Opposition Congress MLAs created uproar during Governor Mangubhai Patel’s speech on the recent diarrhea outbreak in Indore due to government-supplied contaminated water, which caused many deaths.

Earlier, the day’s events had started with the singing of six stanzas of the national song Vande Matram as per the Union Home Ministry’s January 28 directive.

On February 12, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav welcomed the MHA’s move and said that the State would implement the directive.

The uproar in the assembly started when Governor Patel spoke about the government’s water-related initiatives and plans and highlighted a project to divert Kanh river from Shipra river in Ujjain to prevent pollution of Shipra river in Ujjain.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Congress MLA Umang Singhar stood up and alleged that many important issues were ignored in the Governor’s speech, such as provision of clean tap water to rural households and deaths due to water pollution.

Mr. Singhar said, “Mr Governor, you skipped the page about ‘nal jal’ (tap water). You mentioned Shipra but did not even reach Indore, where such a huge tragedy took place in Bhagirathpura.”

Addressing the Speaker, Mr. Singhar said the Governor had “forgotten” the issue of clean water. Various other Congress MLAs also joined him.

The LoP’s objection led to a chaotic situation in the House between the Opposition and the Treasury Benches even as Mr Patel continued reading his address. While Congress MPs shouted slogans against the government and objected to the Governor’s speech, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs stormed the dais in support of him.

The Governor read only selected portions of his full written address, which is available on the Legislature’s website. After Mr. Patel left the House, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar said that the remaining parts of his speech would be deemed to have been read.

According to the audit report submitted by government officials to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the tragedy, which started in Indore’s Bhagirathpura district in December 2025, has led to the death of 16 people so far. The audit was conducted by a panel of doctors from the state-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College and found the cause of at least eight deaths was inconclusive.

However, locals and media reports claim that at least 35 people died in the lower middle class area of ​​Indore. The tragedy was caused by contaminated water supplied by the BJP-ruled Indore Municipal Corporation, and various government investigations have confirmed that there was a polymicrobial infection and high levels of fecal coliform in the water due to various sources, including mixing of sewage and drinking water in underground pipelines running in close proximity for decades.

The Budget Session will continue until March 6 and the Budget will be presented on February 18.