Chennai: Led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, AIADMK MLAs and party workers held a hunger strike here on Thursday to press for a CBI probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. DMDK chief Premalatha Vijayakanth visited the venue and lent her party’s support to the protest.
Clad in black shirts, the AIADMK legislators, who have been suspended from the ongoing Assembly session for disrupting proceedings, began their fast here by 9 am at the Rajarathinam stadium.
The fast is also to condemn ‘denial of permission’ to raise the issue in the state Assembly, according to the main Opposition party.
Palaniswami, in a post on X, demanded Chief Minister M K Stalin’s resignation and reiterated that the hooch deaths be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
While the deaths have ‘crossed 60,’ why has not Stalin visited Kallakurichi so far, he asked. He also slammed the chief minister’s ‘reluctance’ to have a honest discussion over the issue in the Assembly.
Premalatha Vijayakanth, backed AIADMK’s demand for CBI probe and also demanded that minister for Prohibition and Excise, S Muthusamy resign from his post to do justice. She alleged police have not permitted the AIADMK leaders to ‘make speeches,’ (using public address system) and decried ‘repression.’
Facts related to the hooch tragedy will emerge only if the CBI probed the matter and both the AIADMK and her party the DMDK are firm on this stand. She alleged that, “ruling party persons abetted the brewing of illicit arrack.” Denouncing suspension of AIADMK MLAs, she demanded that the government specify the norms violated by the Opposition party members.
“Where could the Kallakurichi tragedy could be discussed other than the Assembly,” she asked.