Mounting pressure on the DMK government of MK Stalin, the principal Opposition AIADMK on Thursday held a protest fast in the city demanding a CBI probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that claimed 63 lives so far.
The hunger strike, led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), was aimed at pressing Chief Minister Stalin to resign owning moral responsibility for the deaths due to the killer brew.
Meanwhile, even as the toll of the hooch tragedy soared to 63, 130 people are still undergoing treatment. The state government had entrusted the CB-CID with the investigation besides ordering a Judicial Inquiry into the issue.
Addressing the protestors, EPS squarely blamed the DMK government for the Kallakurichi tragedy that rattled the entire state, charging it with ‘incompetence’. “The chief minister is hesitant to have a debate on the issue in the House,” he said.
“Why has Stalin not visited Kallakurichi to meet the families of the victims and the affected even after the toll had crossed 60,” he asked.
The hunger strike follows the AIADMK submitting a memorandum to Governor RN Ravi on Wednesday for a CBI probe and urging him to report to the President about the alleged breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in the state. The MLAs, in black shirts or sarees, were joined by a large number of party functionaries and workers took part in the protest.
All 61 AIADMK legislators, including EPS, were suspended on Wednesday for the rest of the current session for demanding a debate on the hooch tragedy and disrupting the proceedings for the third consecutive day. While Speaker M Appavu maintained that a debate would be allowed after question hour, the AIADMK members remained adamant on the suspension of all other business for the debate.
The House had been passing the demands for grants for various departments in the absence of the principal Opposition, t.
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Premalatha Vijayakanth also joined the hunger strike in solidarity with the protest. She said her party would meet the Governor on Friday with the demand for a CBI investigation into the issue.
Earlier, the BJP too approached the Governor with a similar memorandum.
On his part, Governor Ravi, who has been at loggerheads with the DMK government, termed the tragedy ‘painful’ and expressed dissatisfaction over the state government’s handling of the issue. ‘We must not be in denial’ about the prevalence of drug abuse across the state, he had observed while launching an awareness campaign early this week.