Assam hooch tragedy: Rahul Gandhi pins blame on 'apathy and incompetence' of state government

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that the “apathy and incompetence” of the BJP government in Assam has resulted in “tragic” deaths of over 100 people due to intake of toxic alcohol. The death toll in Assam’s hooch tragedy has shot up to 124, while 331 people are undergoing treatment in hospitals, officials said on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_6021271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter@INCIndia[/caption] “The apathy and incompetence of the Assam government has resulted in the tragic deaths…with scores of victims in hospital, poisoned by toxic alcohol,” Gandhi tweeted on Sunday afternoon. He added, “My condolences to the families of those who have died. I also pray that those in hospital make a speedy recovery.” A large number of labourers of two tea estates of Golaghat and Jorhat districts had fallen ill after drinking spurious liquor on Thursday night and many of them died in the past few days. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met the affected people at Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) on Saturday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who fell ill. Sonowal said Saturday the guilty would not be spared, even as the opposition Congress accused the BJP government in Assam of not taking adequate steps to stop the sale of illicit liquor and demanded the resignation of the state excise minister.