IANS
Gandhinagar, Jul 14: Brushing aside suggestions that Gujarat should lift its prohibition laws in the wake of the illicit liquor deaths, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday stated it has no plans to do a rethink on the issue.
Gujarat government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said in a statement, "there is no question of any rethink on easing or lifting the prohibition laws" in the aftermath of the hooch tragedy which has claimed 136 lives so far in Ahmedabad. He said the state "government is committed to implementing the prohibition laws for the peace, prosperity and security of the people of Gujarat".
Vyas also said the Gujarat government is wedded to Mahatma Gandhi's principles of prohibition.
His statement comes three days after United Breweries Group chairman Vijay Mallya said the government should think of lifting the prohibition laws to prevent a repeat of the illicit liquor tragedy.
Vyas also ticked off the opposition Congress for boycotting the state assembly on the liquor deaths issue. He said the Congress members could raise the matter during the budgetary demand discussion of the home department on July 17 (Friday) instead of "frequently boycotting the assembly sessions" on the issue.
Giving a list of instances of hooch deaths in other parts of the country, he said: "31 people died in Kerala's Kollam district on Oct 25, 2000, after drinking illicit liquor. On Feb 2, 2009, 10 people died of it in Bhubaneswar, while four lost their vision. Between May 19 to May 22, 2008, 13 people died in Kolkata and 25 people were taken ill. In 2007, in Bangalore alone, eight people died of illicit liquor, while in the entire Karnataka state 142 people died during that year after consuming illicit liquor."
He said the government has taken action against irresponsible police officers for not implementing the prohibition laws. "The opposition is unnecessarily converting the hooch tragedy into a political issue, which is unfortunate," he added.
Meanwhile, state Director General of Police (DGP) S.S. Khandwawala in a statement here said that the Gujarat police would keep hunting for the key mastermind in the hooch tragedy case, Vinod Dagri, who could have fled Gujarat.