Indore Collector and Mayor Meet at RSS Office, Sparking Controversy After Water Contamination Deaths

Indore witnessed a fresh political controversy on Thursday after Collector Shivam Verma and Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav reportedly attended a meeting at the RSS office late Wednesday night. The meeting comes days after contaminated drinking water in the Bhagirathpura area led to at least eight deaths, drawing widespread criticism of the local administration.

Multiple sources confirmed the meeting, though Mayor Bhargav downplayed its significance, stating, “As a swayamsevak, I often go to the RSS office. It has nothing to do with the present crisis.” Collector Verma has not publicly commented on the visit.

According to insiders, the meeting at the headquarters of RSS’s Malwa regional unit on Sudarshan Road was convened by Rajmohan, RSS Malwa Prant Pracharak, and focused on crisis management failures.

The BJP described the visit as “routine,” with spokesperson Shivam Shukla saying, “It was a courtesy meeting, and there was nothing wrong with it. Can’t officials meet people? The Congress should stop spreading misinformation.”

However, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari shared a video of Mayor Bhargav outside the RSS office, calling the meeting “no routine visit.” Patwari criticized the timing, asking, “When poison is flowing through Indore’s taps, when homes are mourning the death of innocent citizens, should the Collector be in the field, in hospitals, among the affected families, or inside the RSS office?” He called the meeting an example of “cutting the nose of administrative impartiality.”

The incident has intensified scrutiny of the Indore administration’s handling of the water contamination crisis and reignited debates over the role of political affiliations in bureaucratic decision-making.