In a fiery statement, Congress state unit chief Jitu Patwari on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government of rampant corruption, linking Union Carbide waste issues to the land mafia and toxic environmental risks, while demanding action to protect public health in Madhya Pradesh.

Patwari, interacting with media persons at his residence, alleged that rising corruption in the state was not only sullying the image of Madhya Pradesh but also making life difficult for citizens.

Casting aspersions on the overnight shifting of Union Carbide waste to Pithampur, Patwari questioned, "At 2 AM, it became known that the waste was being moved, but nobody had a clue about it—why was this the case?"

Patwari also mentioned that the state's Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is the in-charge minister for Dhar, said that he had no knowledge of the situation. The in-charge minister for Indore is none other than Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. He asked if the situation had become so dire that people were setting themselves on fire to wake up Mohan Yadav.

Lambasting the 'shameful and incompetent' behaviour of the government, Patwari brought up his recent meeting with former Rajya Sabha Member and senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan, where he had urged that the shifting of the waste should be delayed to allow time for a technical verification of the residues.

He criticised the statement made by Yadav and Vijayvargiya that the toxic elements from the waste, present 25 years ago, had now disappeared, questioning the scientific basis of their claim. He pointed out that experts in the field had warned that this waste could lead to a higher risk of cancer.

He explained that he himself visited an area within 10 kilometres of Ramky’s company, where crops that used to yield 5 quintals were now yielding only 1 quintal, and villagers were suffering from cancer and other health issues. He mentioned that the water there was unfit for consumption, and the Yashwant Sagar Dam, which is 30 kilometres away, supplies water to the entire city of Indore, where its impact was already being felt.

Patwari then stated that the BJP had become like a mad elephant, not understanding anything, and had turned into a party of corruption. He claimed that corrupt individuals within the party were fighting amongst themselves, so absorbed in their own power that they had no time for the public.

He also said that Sumitra 'Tai' agreed with him on the issues related to the waste disposal. He demanded that the chief minister halt the entire process. He spoke about how people in Pithampur had been enduring government oppression in the name of industrial development for years.