India News | SAD, BJP Slam AAP Govt in Punjab over Sangrur Hooch Tragedy

Chandigarh, Mar 23 (PTI) The SAD and the BJP on Saturday lashed out at the AAP government over the Sangrur hooch tragedy, questioning Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for not seeking resignation from excise minister Harpal Singh Cheema.

The death toll due to the suspected consumption of spurious liquor in Punjab's Sangrur district climbed to 20, with six more persons succumbing, officials said on Saturday.

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Eleven people are undergoing treatment at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala and six at Civil Hospital Sangrur.

The casualties have been reported from villages Gujran, Tibbi Ravidaspura and Dhandoli Khurd in Dirba and Sunam blocks, said officials.

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Shiromani Akali Dal leader chief spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler said CM Mann was on record to have said at the time of the Tarn Tarn hooch tragedy in 2020 that the excise minister should resign immediately and that a murder case should be registered against the perpetrators.

"Forget taking these necessary actions, including the resignation of excise minister Harpal Cheema, the chief minister has not found the time to visit the families whose near and dear ones have fallen victim to spurious liquor," he said.

"It is condemnable that instead of comforting the victim families of his home district, the chief minister is busy indulging in a 'tamasha' in the national capital to please Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,” he added.

He demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

The SAD spokesman also questioned the chief minister's priorities. "It seems saving Kejriwal is more important for the chief minister and his ministerial colleagues than the welfare of Punjabis", Kler said.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, while expressing shock at the Sangrur hooch tragedy in Sangrur, alleged that it was the result of the "liquor scam" that has been going on in the state under the patronage of the AAP government.

The Bhagwant Mann government has been playing with the lives of the state people with its "lopsided excise policy," he alleged in a statement.

"The hooch tragedy is far too alarming since it has happened in the home district of the chief minister," Chugh said.

He demanded that compensation should be paid to the families of victims.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)