Stalin warns government against opening of TASMAC shops

Referring to the poll promise of the AIADMK ahead of the 2016 Assembly election in which the party had promised to shut the bars attached to TASMAC shops, reduce the number of shops and their operational hours to gradually enforce prohibition, Stalin said the people would not pardon the government for attempting to promotion alcoholism. 

The reported attempts of the government to reclassify national and state highways as civic roads to circumvent the court orders and enable sale of liquor on highways, which were already recording accidents plenty, reveals the bad intention of the government, the DMK working president remarked. 

Describing as unfortunate the attempts being made by the ruling AIADMK to open TASMAC outlets, contrary to its poll promise, Stalin referred to the sporadic protests of women against TASMAC liquor sale and said that despite the government crackdown the protests have refused to die down. However, he added that the people would not pardon the “horse trading” AIADMK government for promoting alcohol to fill the coffers, instead of fulfilling its poll promise of rehabilitating alcoholics.

Accusing the ruling AIADMK of struggling to understand the health concerns and tragedies suffered by the alcoholics and their families, Stalin, in his statement, said the government should immediately drop its plan to increase the number of TASMAC shops to protect the poor.