Are TASMAC And Bars Really Closed In Tamil Nadu Today? Annamalai Claims Liquor Sold Illegally In Pudukkottai

Are the TASMAC shops and bars really closed in Tamil Nadu today? Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai claimed on Thursday that liquor is illegally sold.

What Annamalai Says?

He has also shared a video of a TASMAC shop which is allegedly selling liquor. He wrote, "This video explains one of the elements of the Multi-Thousand-Crore TASMAC scam in TN. Today is Mahaveer Jayanthi, and the state-run liquor shops are ordered to be shut, but here is a TASMAC shop in Pudukkottai where liquor is sold illegally. All these illegal and after-hours sales are unaccounted sales, which directly end up in the DMK Minister's pocket."

"DMK's greed has no pause, and today in TN, the system is rigged to loot. All these broad daylight loots will come to an end very soon!"

The bars and TASMAC shops are shut today on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, a major Jain festival celebrating the birth of Lord Mahavira.

However, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged a large-scale financial scam amounting to ₹1,000 crore during its searches on the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) in March.

The central agency claims that a network involving politicians, bureaucrats, and distillery owners siphoned off more than ₹1,000 crore (US$120 million) through manipulated tenders, inflated expenses, and illegal transactions. Also, irregularities were found in transport and bar license tenders, which involved fake documentation and favoritism.

Amit Shah In Chennai

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Chennai today amid rumours of a change in leadership in Tamil Nadu.

On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Tamil Nadu, state BJP President Annamalai said, "Home Minister Amit Shah is coming to meet the leaders of BJP and to take stock of what is happening in the state... He will be here till tomorrow... He often comes to the state to take ground-level feedback... As of now, I am only authorised to say that he is coming to the state. Rest we will discuss at a more appropriate time."

Going by the reports, Amit Shah is expected to have talks with the state BJP leaders on the next BJP chief and having an alliance with the AIADMK.