Carbide waste protest: Duo who attempted self-immolation were expelled from BJP, says party leader

Dhar (MP): The duo that attempted self-immolation during a protest against the planned disposal of Union Carbide waste in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district was with the BJP but expelled in 2023, a party leader said on Saturday.

Rajkumar Raghuvanshi (37) and Raj Patel (32) were hospitalised after they poured a flammable liquid on their bodies and set themselves afire during a protest on Friday at Pithampur, where the authorities plan to dispose of 337 tons of the waste at an incineration unit.

According to Dhar BJP district president Manoj Somani, Raghuvanshi was their district sports cell co-convenor, while Patel was a party member.

“Both were expelled during the 2023 MP elections for siding with BJP rebel Rajiv Yadav from Dhar assembly seat. Yadav had contested against the party’s official candidate Neena Verma, who won the seat,” Soani told PTI.

Dhar Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said the two were taken to a local hospital before being shifted to a private medical facility in Indore, about 30 km from Pithampur. “Both sustained 15 per cent burns and are absolutely out of danger, according to the doctors,” the SP said.

The police official said that Raghuvanshi faces three cases, including one attempted murder.

State minister and senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya visited the two at the Indore hospital on Friday. Vijayvargiya, who is also the guardian minister of Dhar district, said the state government was worried about their health and asked the doctors to give them the best care.

Protests were held in Pithampur on Friday amid concerns that the disposal of the waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory, which caused one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, would harm the locals’ health and the environment.

On the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing at least 5,479 persons and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues in Bhopal.

The authorities have shifted 337 tonnes of waste from the Carbide factory to Pithampur. Located about 50 kilometres from the Dhar district headquarters, the industrial town has a population of about 1.75 lakh.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday addressed doubters and said the issue should not be politicised. He asserted the waste comprised 60 per cent mud and 40 per cent naphthol used to make pesticide methyl isocyanate (MIC) and was "not at all harmful".