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Politics grows over Tasmac liquor shops in Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu state marketing corporation (TASMAC) has once again gained spotlight as BJP state unit chief K Annamalai started his padyatra earlier this week raising the issue
Tamil Nadu has often flirted with a phased down closure of its cash cow- the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a burning issue during elections which is once again in the spotlight for several reasons. With minister for prohibition and excise, V Senthil Balaji in jail on charges of corruption, Union home minister Amit Shah flagged off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state president K Annamalai’s padyatra earlier this week where one of the main promises of the party is to replace TASMAC liquor with palmyra and coconut toddy (the two locally brewed drinks).
Before going on his campaign by foot, Annamalai submitted a plan to the governor RN Ravi to close down the 5000-odd Tasmac shops over three years. The DMK has shut 500 shops this June, keeping its poll promise of a phased closure. In May, AIADMK general secretary and leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) led a massive protest marching towards the Raj Bhavan to meet the governor against the hooch deaths in Villupuram and Thanjavur districts in which 24 people lost their lives in twin hooch tragedies.
Tamil Nadu was under prohibition from 1937 imposed before independence by Congress chief minister C Rajagopalachari. After the DMK formed the first government in 1967, M Karunanidhi lifted the ban in 1971 only to reinstate the liquor ban three years later. After MG Ramachandran broke away from the DMK and formed the ADMK (later AIADMK) and won in 1980, he lifted the ban on liquor.
TASMAC was established in 1983 by then chief minster MG Ramachandran incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. In the long history of prohibitions in the state, the company was in charge of wholesale liquor sale whenever the ban was lifted.
Ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, both the DMK and AIADMK promised a phased shutdown of TASMAC. However, sales grew 22.3% in 2022-2023, when liquor sales soared at ₹44,098.56 crore. The only party to solely stick to its advocacy for a dry state is National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, the Pattali Makkal Katchi.
The issue is one which unites sparring rivals DMK and AIADMK when they are governing and the parties which usually take a moral high ground while in opposition. In 2015, anti-liquor activists Sasi Perumal died while protesting in front of a Tasmac shop in Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi asked the then J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK to immediately bring in a ban. Both parties promised the same in the 2016 assembly elections. It has been the wish of women voters, who outnumber male voters in the state, who have consistently complained of being abused and their husbands from low-income families spending their earnings at TASMAC-run shops.
However, over the years the state-run liquor monopoly has closed down hundreds of shops while also upgrading some of its bars, introducing ‘Elite’ outlets including in shopping malls, launched imported liquor and started vending machines to dispense liquor bottles.
In April, Balaji announced in the assembly that 500 out of the 5329 shops will be closed and it came into effect from June. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Balaji on June 14 related to an alleged scam back in 2014 in the transport department. While he was hospitalised since his arrest for a heart surgery and later shifted to prison, his portfolio was handed over to S Muthusamy who has assured that the government will rein in those found selling liquor bottles above the maximum retail price. Muthusamy also shared that the department is mulling to introduce smaller quantities of liquor in tetra packs which drew sharp criticism. “Selling alcohol in tetra packets will attract children. They may mistake it for juice. Once they get the taste, they will become alcoholics,” said AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar at that time.
Allies AIADMK and BJP have criticised the DMK-led government for not being sincere about its promise. “If chief minister Stalin’s photo can be put up at ration shops, then it can also be put up at TASMAC shops… You can also write that you are encouraging liquor consumption”, BJP state unit head Annamalai said during his padyatra in Pudukottai on August 3.
A senior DMK leader who did not wish to be named said that there is a common agreement that a total ban is neither realistic nor feasible with Bihar being the latest failed model. “In a state like Tamil Nadu where we share borders and have coastlines, there are better ways to regulate and manage liquor sales and we will come up with a policy that is realistic,” the leader said.
