Tamil Nadu: AIADMK protests against the government over poisonous liquor tragedy

MADURAI: Condemning the DMK government for the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi, AIADMK leaders and cadre staged a protest near Arapalayam in Madurai on Monday morning.

AIADMK leaders, led by former ministers RB Udhayakumar and Sellur K Raju and former mayor VV Rajan, wore black shirts and raised slogans against the DMK government, alleging inaction over the incident.

Udhayakumar claimed that the AIADMK leaders were prevented from expressing their opinions about the incident inside the state assembly, and as a result, the party was forced to take out protests across the state. He also stated that despite AIADMK leader and former chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami seeking a CBI probe into the hooch deaths, the DMK government refused to do so.

“To crush the opposition’s voice, they have reduced the number of days for the assembly session from 45 to nine. Further, Chief Minister MK Stalin has not travelled to the hotspots of the tragedy, and has refused to meet the relatives of the victims,” he alleged.

AIADMK cadres, led by former minister C Srinivasan, also staged a protest in Dindigul. In Ramanathapuram, former minister Manikandan and former Lok Sabha MP Anwar Raja, along with party cadre, staged a protest outside the collectorate. While more than 500 cadres protested, 17 cadres were arrested by the police.