JP Nadda writes to Congress chief, slams party’s ‘deafening’ silence on TN hooch tragedy

New Delhi: Union Minister and BJP national president JP Nadda wrote a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday, over the recent hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakuichi region and questioned the ‘deafening and hypocritical’ silence of the grand old party as well as the INDIA bloc.

Notably, the sale of spurious liquor in Karunapuram village of Kallakuruchi region, primarily a Dalit-dominated locality, has resulted in the death of more than 56 people so far. MK Stalin's government has maintained silence despite several deaths in the state while the INDIA bloc partners including the Congress have refrained from speaking up on the issue.

BJP President demanded an immediate stop to the sale of illicit liquor in the state and demanded the sacking of the minister concerned.

"At this juncture, the BJP and the entire nation indeed demand that you press upon the DMK-INDI Alliance Tamil Nadu government to go for a CBI probe and ensure the immediate removal of Muthuswamy as minister...," Nadda wrote in a four-page letter to Cong President.

He also asked Kharge why Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were not meeting victims’ families and joining demonstrations in the state, despite a slew of deaths due to the sale of spurious liquor.

"We also urge you to pursue Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, to either pay a visit to the victim's families or at least muster the courage to raise their voices on this issue rather than maintaining a deafening selective, hypocritical silence," he said.

"Kharge ji, the tragedy in Kallakurichi is entirely a man-made disaster and perhaps if the deep nexus between the ruling DMK-INDI Alliance dispensation and illicit liquor mafia did not exist, today 56 lives could have been saved," he added.

In a further taunt at Kharge, he invited the Congress President and the INDIA bloc leaders to join the BJP for a black band protest against the ‘state-sponsored disaster’, in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the old Parliament complex.