Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that pharmaceutical companies gave Rs 945 crore in electoral bonds to the BJP. Singh criticized the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh in light of the deaths of 26 children associated with the tainted Coldrif cough syrup.
During a press conference in Bhopal, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister accused the state administration of leniency towards pharmaceutical firms due to their financial support to the BJP during elections.
Singh stated that companies producing harmful medications were shielded by their political contributions to the ruling BJP government. He highlighted that the Coldrif syrup, responsible for the children’s fatalities, contained an alarming 48.6% diethylene glycol, surpassing the safe limit of 0.01%.
Questioning the health minister’s position amid the toxic syrup revelation, Singh emphasized that pharmaceutical entities channeled a significant amount, totaling Rs 945 crore, to the BJP, with 35 of these companies failing to comply with quality regulations.
Reports confirmed the tragic deaths of 26 children in Chhindwara and neighboring districts due to kidney failure after consuming the toxic Coldrif cough syrup.
In a related development, Ranganathan Govindan, the proprietor of the Tamil Nadu-based firm manufacturing Coldrif, was remanded in judicial custody following investigations in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Praveen Soni, who prescribed the lethal syrup, his nephew Rajesh Soni, and pharmacist Saurabh Jain are already in custody. The manufacturing unit of the company has been sealed, and the state government took punitive action against drug regulators involved in the case.