CM Stalin should accept moral responsibility over Kallakurichi hooch tragedy: BJP leader

Chennai, Jun 20 (PTI) BJP national co-incharge of Tamil Nadu affairs P Sudhakar Reddy on Thursday said that Chief Minister M K Stalin should take moral responsibility for the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi and demanded that Prohibition and Excise Minister S Muthusamy be dropped from the cabinet immediately.

He also sought a probe into the incident by a sitting judge. Chief Minister Stalin, who held a meeting to review the situation, already announced the setting up of a one-man commission to be led by retired Madras High Court Judge B Gokuldas to make recommendations to the government on measures to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents and also to look into the reasons for the recent deaths.

"I am saddened by the tragic death of more than 35 persons...due to the consumption of illicit liquor in Kallakurichi. This incident is a grim example of the incapable and corrupt governance of the ruling party," Reddy told PTI.

"Stalin should take moral responsibility for the death of 35 persons due to consumption of spurious liquor and should immediately dismiss the Prohibition and Excise Minister," he added.

He claimed that the chief minister was concerned only about gaining more seats in polls, and had even set a target of winning 200-plus seats in the 2026 assembly election. "Stalin's aim is only about making his party prosper and not about addressing the people's problems," Reddy said.

Recalling that this was the second such tragedy in a year's time in the state, Reddy said the state government should order a probe by a sitting judge apart from taking stern action on illicit arrack distillers. PTI JSP ANE