Chennai: For the second consecutive day, the opposition AIADMK, whose members turned up in black shirts, boycotted the proceedings of the State Assembly after Speaker M Appavu declined to entertain the demand of the Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, for an exclusive discussion on the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi, setting aside the Question Hour and other businesses.
Even as Question Hour was on, Palaniswami rose to tell the Speaker that the death toll in the tragedy had crossed 50 and that needed to be discussed thoroughly. When the Speaker tried to explain that the proceedings had to follow the rules and regulations, AIADMK members raised slogans, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister M K Stalin and trooped out.
Agreeing to allow for the discussion after the Question Hour, the Speaker said that Palaniswami should know what to do, and when, during the House proceedings and pointed out that they were boycotting everything.PWD Minister E V Velu said that the AIADMK members seemed to know nothing about the procedures relating to Assembly proceedings.
Speaking to the media in the Secretariat premises, Palaniswami said that a CBI probe alone would bring out the truth behind the tragedy and that the one man commission would not serve the purpose. He alleged that he was denied an opportunity to raise the issue in the House as he wanted details about the casualties as it was learnt that 55 persons had died.
Alleging that the hospitals in which the victims had been admitted did not have the necessary antidote for methanol poisoning, he said the claim of some DMK allies that Chief Minister M K Stalin was not aware of the illicit brewing of arrack was not acceptable. Since DMK functionaries had links with bootleggers, to get justice for the victims a CBI enquiry was required, he said.
Asked why he insisted on having the discussion on the tragedy immediately when the Speaker had agreed to take it up after Question Hour, Palaniswami said that when people were dying the issue was more important than anything else and should be taken up on priority basis.
He accused the Congress leaders of not talking anything against the DMK government because both the parties had entered into a pact to remain united for another 25 years.
Law Minister S Regupathy wondered as to why there should be a CBI enquiry when the CB-CID was doing an excellent job. The government was transparent on the investigations and the DMK had no reason to have links with bootleggers.
There was no logic in the allegation that the DMK government backed the illicit liquor trade, he said and challenged those making the charge to prove it. However, he said that they would not allow any to play politics with the tragedy and denied that there was an intelligence failure.
Two DMK MLAs Vasantham Karthikeyan representing Rishivandiyam and Udhayasuriyan from Sankarapuram constituency, too, met the media in the Secretariat to dispel the charges levelled against them by PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss that they were in league with the bootleggers in the region and prevented police crackdown on them.
Challenging Anbumani Ramadoss to prove his charges, they said that they would leave public life if he could do that but asked him if he would leave public life if he failed to prove the charges. They said that they were with the people when the tragedy unfolded and helped them getting admitted to hospital.
Asked about the DMK sticker with Stalin’s image found on the door of the arrested bootlegger’s house, they said that the posters were pasted on all doors during the election campaign and in many houses they still remained intact. The presence of stickers on the doors cannot prove the link between the party and those living in the houses, they said.
They also threatened to file defamation cases against those who spread such canards and seek compensation.
