NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sought a fair investigation into the spurious liquor deaths in Madhya Pradesh and demanded the BJP government in the state to take accountability.
The leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said Madhya Pradesh has seen several deaths due to poisonous medicines, liquor and water but no action has been taken by the state government ruled by the BJP for the last 20 years.
"In the state of Madhya Pradesh, which has India's most corrupt government, there's no such thing left as governance. Poisonous liquor has taken the lives of numerous people in Sagar in the state, plunging countless homes into mourning.
"But everyone in Madhya Pradesh knows what will happen next some arrests will be made, a few officials will be suspended, and an inquiry will be ordered, because this isn't the first time," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi.
Gandhi pointed to the deaths due to contaminated water in Indore. Last year, toxic cough syrup claimed the lives of "countless young children", he said.
"Medicine is poisonous. Liquor is poisonous. Water is poisonous. New laws are enacted, but they're deeply buried until the next tragedy.
"For over 20 years, the BJP government has been in power in Madhya Pradesh. No prevention of such incidents, just token action afterward where is the accountability? Until when will the price of people's lives be merely the post-tragedy measures?," he said.
"Let there be a fair investigation, let the full truth of these deaths come to light, and let the action not be limited to low-level employees anyone whose negligence or complicity is exposed must be held accountable," Gandhi said.
The death toll in the spurious liquor tragedy in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district rose to 15 on Tuesday after two more victims succumbed during treatment, police said on Tuesday.
Police said they have so far arrested 14 of the 30 accused in the case and a search is on for the others.
Earlier, the Congress unit in Madhya Pradesh said families in Banda (Sagar district) are devastated by the poisonous liquor and are crying for justice, but the Mohan Yadav government in the state is running away from responsibility. Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari also met some of the affected families.