- Tuesday, March 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
WITH a few months left for the next assembly elections in Gujarat, the recent hooch tragedy in the state in which more than 40 people lost their lives has started snowballing into a major political issue.
On Friday (29), Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed concern over the business of spurious liquor and drugs in the state which is ruled by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for more than two decades now by taking an indirect dig at the saffron party.
The 52-year-old leader asked which ruling forces are giving protection to the “mafias” involved in such businesses.
Forty-two people from Botad and neighbouring Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, the home state of PM Modi, have died so far after consuming the spurious liquor on July 25, while nearly 100 people are still admitted to hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad and Ahmedabad, Gujarat state home minister Harsh Sanghavi has said.
In a tweet in Hindu, Gandhi said, “In ‘dry state’ Gujarat, many houses were destroyed due to the consumption of spurious liquor. Drugs worth billions are also being recovered from there continuously.”
“It is a matter of great concern, on the land of ‘Bapu’ (Mahatma Gandhi) and ‘Sardar’ (Vallabhbhai) Patel, who are these people who are indiscriminately doing the business of intoxication?” he said.
‘ड्राई स्टेट' गुजरात में ज़हरीली शराब पीने से कई घर उजड़ गए। वहां लगातार अरबों की ड्रग्स भी बरामद हो रही है।
ये बेहद चिंता की बात है, बापू और सरदार पटेल की धरती पर, ये कौन लोग हैं जो धड़ल्ले से नशे का कारोबार कर रहे हैं? इन माफिया को कौन सी सत्ताधारी ताक़तें संरक्षण दे रही हैं?
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 29, 2022
Fifteen key accused, including the one who acquired the chemical and those who sold the liquor to people, have already been arrested in the case while some police officers have been suspended.
Manufacture and sale of liquor is banned in Gujarat which is why it is called a “dry state”. Under the Gujarat Prohibition Act, any person who purchases, consumes or serves alcohol with a permit can be arrested and sent to prison for a period between three months to five years.
Gandhi’s words on the hooch tragedy came days after Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and the convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), another major opponent to Modi’s BJP, also spoke on the matter.
Kejriwal, who frequently visits Gujarat ahead of the assembly elections after his party has done well at some grass-roots elections in the state, also questioned the open sale of alcohol in a dry state.
“A very sad incident came to my knowledge that more than 25 people have died in Bhavnagar after drinking spurious liquor and several others are admitted to the hospitals. I wish them speedy recovery,” Kejriwal said during a recent visit to the state when he also met some of those who are undergoing treatment after consuming the spurious drink.
“The question is that if Gujarat is a dry state then how is alcohol being sold openly in the state and who is benefitting from this? This is not the first time in Gujarat. Why is the govt not looking after this, or is there some conspiracy behind this?” the AAP leader asked.
The AAP, which won power in the northern state of Punjab earlier this year, is determined to do good in Gujarat elections by challenging the BJP and the Congress, two of the state’s major parties. The Congress has seen a major slide in its vote bank which makes its state leadership worried over losing ground to the AAP while the BJP is fighting hard to beat the anti-incumbency factor.
