Let score sheets come: Indore mayor hits back at claims of losing cleanest tag

Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava has rejected claims that the city has lost its position in the Centre's Swachh Survekshan cleanliness rankings, saying the score sheets would clarify its performance, news agency Press Trust of India reported.His remarks came amid Congress allegations that Indore, which was ranked India's cleanest city for eight consecutive years, had lost the title after Navi Mumbai was named the cleanest city at the 10th Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 Awards on Wednesday.Bhargava told PTI on Thursday that Indore had received the highest scores among cities across the country. However, he said the Central government had adopted a policy of awarding a city in only one category this time. Indore was recognised in the "Clean City Pair" category along with Depalpur."Those who are saying that Indore has lost its top spot in the National Sanitation Survey should kindly tell us what our position is. Let the survey score sheet be released. Everything will become clear," he said. Navi Mumbai was chosen as the cleanest city at the awards, while Surat and Vijayawada secured second and third place, respectively.Meanwhile, Congress workers and relatives of people who died in the Bhagirathpura water contamination incident in December last year protested at the Indore airport on Wednesday as Bhargava returned from Delhi after attending the awards ceremony. Several protesters carried placards seeking justice. City Congress president Chintu Choukse, who released a video of the protest, said people who had lost family members because of contaminated drinking water had come to seek justice from the mayor. He alleged that the police, acting at the ruling BJP's behest, removed the protesters from the airport and took them to the Aerodrome police station. He said those taken to the station included an 80-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy.Aerodrome police station in-charge Manoj Sendhav rejected the allegations of police misconduct. "In the event of a public disturbance, protesters may have been called to the police station to be pacified, but they were not detained," he told PTI.Choukse also accused Bhargava and the BJP of misleading people over the cleanliness rankings. "Bhargava has proved to be a curse for Indore as mayor. The city has lost its reputation as the cleanest city in the country. Now they (BJP) are trying to save face by lying and spreading misinformation," he said.Bhargava maintained that Indore had received the highest scores and said its position would become clear after the score sheets were released, while the Congress continued to question the city's cleanliness record and raised the Bhagirathpura water contamination deaths.- Ends