Uproar in Rajasthan Assembly over remarks on Rahul Gandhi, cough syrup deaths

Jaipur: The Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday witnessed uproarious scenes triggered by remarks on LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and questions about the deaths allegedly linked to a cough syrup supplied in the state.

Chairperson Phool Singh Meena adjourned the House twice for 15 minutes each as ruling BJP and opposition Congress MLAs created noisy scenes over remarks made by BJP MLA Srichand Kriplani on the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha.

While participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor's address, Kriplani criticised Gandhi, alleging that he was making baseless accusations over an unpublished book.

Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully objected to the remarks, saying a person who is not a member of the House should not be referred to during proceedings. He urged the chair to intervene, triggering strong protests from both sides.

As the uproar intensified, the chairperson adjourned the House for 15 minutes for the first time. When the House resumed, it was again adjourned for 15 minutes amid continuing ruckus.

Later, Chairperson Sandeep Sharma took charge and asked members to refrain from making remarks about anyone who is not a member of the House. The assembly subsequently resumed its business.

Gandhi on Monday sought to quote from the unpublished "memoir" of former Army chief Gen (retd) M M Naravane on Monday in the Lok Sabha, but Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with other BJP members, strongly opposed it and accused the Congress leader of "misleading" the House.

Earlier on Tuesday, noisy scenes were witnessed in the Rajasthan Assembly also over the deaths allegedly linked to a cough syrup, with Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar claiming the fatalities were caused due to "overdosing and comorbidity", as the medicine was taken without medical advice.

He was responding to questions raised by the opposition during Question Hour.

The Congress sought to corner the government over what it alleged was lower expenditure under the free medicine scheme despite an increase in OPD footfall, and over reports of deaths of children allegedly linked to consumption of a government-supplied cough syrup in October 2025.

Congress MLA Harimohan Sharma and Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully raised the issues.

Khimsar said expenditure under the Chief Minister Nirogi Rajasthan (Medicine) Scheme had not declined. He said the state spent Rs 1,572 crore in 2023, Rs 1,725 crore in 2024 and Rs 1,656 crore in 2025 under the scheme.

He also clarified that the cough syrup in question was not taken on the advice of government doctors.

"If medicines are given on the prescription of doctors and deaths occur, then the responsibility lies with the doctor and the government. But if someone brings medicines from outside and deaths occur, neither the doctor nor the government is responsible," the minister said.

Khimsar said not many deaths had occurred in the cough syrup case, adding that "two to four or five deaths were reported". He said parents had administered the cough syrup doses to children on their own, without medical advice.

The health minister said the syrup contains chemicals such as codeine and that the deaths occurred due to "overdosing and comorbidity". He also said the same cough syrup has been in use since 2014, including during the previous Congress government's tenure.

Reacting to the reply, Jully said the company manufacturing the syrup had been blacklisted in several places and questioned whether the quality of the medicine may have deteriorated over time.

The House later continued with its scheduled business.