Priyanka attacks BJP over hooch tragedies

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday targetted the BJP over a hooch tragedy which claimed over several lives in two adjoining districts in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, saying it was “beyond imagination” to see that such a large scale illegal liquor trade was going on “under the patronage” of the two state governments.

She also condemned the incident and expressed her “deepest condolences” to the family members of the deceased.

She hoped that both the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments would ensure “strict punishment” to those responsible for the tragedy and provide “adequate compensation and government jobs” to the dependents of the deceased.

"I am very shocked and saddened to know that more than 100 people have been killed in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, Kushinagar and several villages, and the death toll is continuing to mount," she said in her first official statement in Hindi after assuming charge as the Congress general secretary.

No amount of condemnation is enough for this “heart-wrenching incident," she added.

"It was beyond imagination that such a large scale illegal trade of liquor was going on under the patronage of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh governments,” she said.