AIADMK Leader Sellur Raju Criticizes CM MK Stalin Over Kallakurichi Tragedy
Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 3: AIADMK leader Sellur Raju has criticized Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for not visiting the victims of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. Raju reiterated his party’s demand for a CBI investigation into the incident.
Raju also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of double standards, pointing out that Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit violence-hit Manipur but did not ask Stalin to visit Kallakurichi victims.
Raju stated, “Last year, more than 20 people died after consuming illicit liquor in Villupuram and more than 60 people died in Kallakurichi recently. In this regard, when the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Edappadi Palaniswami, tried to speak, he was not allowed to do so.”
He added, “Till now, MK Stalin has not met the victims of the Kallakurichi tragedy but Rahul Gandhi asks why Modi has not gone to Manipur yet. Rahul Gandhi didn’t ask Stalin why he did not go to Kallakurichi. We demand the CBI investigate the Kallakurichi case.”
According to the latest figures, the death toll in the tragedy is 65. Currently, two people are undergoing treatment at Kallakurichi Government Medical and Hospital, six in Puducherry, and eight in Salem government hospitals, totaling 16 people receiving treatment.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had earlier taken suo moto cognizance of a media report on the deaths and constituted a three-member inquiry committee, led by NCW Member Khushbu Sundar, to investigate the matter. The committee visited the families of the victims.
On June 28, a delegation from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including BJP leaders Anil Antony, Arvind Menon, and MP GK Vasan, met with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman, Kishore Makwana, to submit a memorandum regarding the tragedy. They appealed for adequate compensation and justice for the victims’ families.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, along with party workers, sat on a hunger strike, demanding a CBI inquiry into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy and the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin over the “inefficiency of the DMK government.”
