The Opposition in Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday continued to corner the ruling DMK over the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi, with the AIADMK going on a state-wide protest and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting the governor to seek a CBI probe into the case.
Till Monday, 58 deaths were reported in the hooch tragedy. While seven people were discharged, 156 others are undergoing treatment at four different hospitals across the state. They had consumed illicit liquor laced with methanol on June 18.
Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) led his cadre in Kallakurichi, reiterating his demand for chief minister MK Stalin to resign.
“I am not like the puppet CM Stalin. DMK people are the reason behind the sale of illicit liquor,” he said. “Stalin has to resign from his post as chief minister.”
EPS announced that along with the other AIADMK MLAs, he would submit a petition to governor RN Ravi, demanding a CBI inquiry into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.
Meanwhile, AIADMK’s former ally BJP led by state president K Annamalai along with the party’s senior state leaders including Tamilisai Soundararajan met the governor. Annamalai said on X that they have sought the resignation of prohibition minister S Muthusamy and a CBI probe. “They expressed their serious concern over this incident and the frequency of such incidents in the past, demanding a fair and impartial inquiry and action against the culprits,” the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, AIADMK’s former ally BJP led by state president K Annamalai along with the party’s senior state leaders including Tamilisai Soundararajan met the governor. Annamalai said on X that they have sought the resignation of prohibition minister S Muthusamy and a CBI probe. “They expressed their serious concern over this incident and the frequency of such incidents in the past, demanding a fair and impartial inquiry and action against the culprits,” the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, BJP national president JP Nadda wrote a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge calling for a black band protest against what the national party said is a “state-sponsored hooch disaster” in Tamil Nadu.
“The tragedy in Kallakurichi is entirely a man-made disaster and perhaps if the deep nexus between the ruling DMK-INDI alliance dispensation and illicit liquor mafia did not exist, today, 56 lives could have been saved,” Nadda said in his letter to Kharge.
In response, the DMK said that the AIADMK and BJP are trying to gain political mileage from the tragedy.
DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi listed the steps taken by the government over the tragedy, such as immediately suspending district officials, transferring the case to the CB-CID and ordering a judicial probe.
“Everyday new information is emerging. There is also information that those belonging to the BJP and AIADMK sold illicit arrack…We have the courage to face them. Why doesn’t the opposition have confidence in the CB-CID?” Bharathi said in the press conference.