Chennai: The demand for prohibition is gaining ground in Tamil Nadu with all opposition parties seeking to clamp down on liquor in the state. Even the DMK, which first lifted the prohibition in 1971, has promised to shut liquor stores in the state if elected to power next year.
A shocking video of a four-year-old boy being forced to drink alcohol by a group of men in Tiruvannamalai has spurred opposition parties in Tamil Nadu to demand total prohibition in the state. Months ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections, former Union health minister and PMK’s Chief Ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss has made prohibition his main poll plank.
Anbumani Ramadoss said, “My first stint as Chief Minister will see prohibition. We have visuals of children drinking alcohol. The age of initiation is coming down. If this trend continues we won’t see the next generation. We need to have total prohibition. Tamil Nadu needs to stop this menace".
With smaller parties like the DMDK, the MDMK and the BJP demanding prohibition in the state for some time now, the DMK has also decided to join the bandwagon. Party chief M Karunanidhi has promised strong action to implement prohibition if voted to power next year.
Commenting on his party’s stand, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said, “It is not pressure. DMK never acts under pressure. When that is the need of the hour, we respond to it. We think four or five times. We rule the state for the well-being of people. When this is one issue like that and every political party has started campaigning, we can’t keep quiet. We also know the mindset of people. We can’t go against their wishes."
However, critics point out that Karunanidhi was the first Chief Minister to lift prohibition in 1971. And while the DMK chief re-introduced prohibition four years later, his successor and AIADMK rival MGR lifted the liquor ban in 1981. Since then both the Dravidian parties have largely followed the same liquor policy with the state-run Tasmac responsible for the wholesale distribution and sale of liquor.
Analysing the growing demand for ban, Tamil writer and analyst Gnani Sankaran said, “It’s a huge social problem and people are waking up to it. No political parties are trying to address the issue because elections are nearby. People are moving towards demand for prohibition. When the public mood is towards prohibition, no party can ignore it. All smaller parties are asking. DMK has a big issue. It promoted liquor and many DMK leaders are liqour barons, supplying liquor to Tasmac. So they had to accept and give in to reality."
With more than 6800 Tasmac shops across Tamil Nadu, these liquor stores are considered the cash-cow for the state government. Last year, the revenue from liquor sales crossed a whopping Rs 26,000 crore.
But with neighbouring states like Kerala imposing prohibition in a phased manner, the chorus to shut wine shops in Tamil Nadu is growing louder every passing day. And with elections fast approaching, the question is whether the ruling AIADMK government can afford to remain silent on this pressing social issue.
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