Jaipur, Feb 3 (IANS) Rajasthan Leader of the Opposition, Tika Ram Jully, on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the state government over the deaths of children allegedly caused by the consumption of contaminated cough syrup. ​

Raising the issue during Question Hour, Jully accused the government of negligence and “commission-driven corruption,” alleging that innocent children were paying with their lives.​

Questioning the Health Minister’s reply to a query raised by Congress MLA Harimohan Sharma, Jully termed it incomplete and misleading. He alleged that the government was deliberately shielding “merchants of death” and demanded accountability. His remarks led to loud protests and an uproar in the Assembly. ​

He claimed that the pharmaceutical company whose cough syrup was linked to the deaths had already been blacklisted in several states.​

Despite this, he questioned how the firm managed to secure supply contracts in Rajasthan. Jully further alleged that the same contaminated batch of cough syrup, which reportedly caused fatalities in Madhya Pradesh, was distributed to children in Rajasthan under the Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme. ​

Speaking to the media outside the House, the Leader of the Opposition also targeted the Modi government at the Centre over the India–US trade agreement, calling it a “new document of slavery” and an assault on India’s strategic autonomy. ​

He alleged that the United States had pressured India into signing the deal, which, he claimed, would harm the country’s economy.​

Jully also questioned India’s oil procurement policy, asking why the country was being forced to move away from cheaper Russian oil and explore costlier alternatives. He described this as an infringement on India’s independent foreign policy. ​

Referring to repeated remarks by former US President Donald Trump on India–Pakistan issues, he criticised what he called the Prime Minister’s “mysterious silence.” ​

He warned that if FIRs are not immediately registered against the guilty pharmaceutical companies and the full details of the trade agreement are not made public, Congress would launch a statewide and national agitation, from the streets to Parliament.

​–IANS

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