TASMAC Karma
In 2020, when the AIADMK party was in power in Tamilnadu, they took the decision of opening the TASMAC wine shops amidst the COVID-19 lockdown relaxations. For those who do not know about TASMAC, it is a government-run entity that sells alcohol-based products.
Many a woman in Tamilnadu has felt that TASMAC is a curse upon us because thousands of families have been ruined due to the uncontrolled alcohol drinking habit and when the state government itself promotes it, it is difficult to oppose that as well.
The logic of the state government was to get some revenue out of this move of opening TASMAC shops.
Then the DMK party which was in opposition raised quite some ruckus:
- They wore a black dress and protested on the streets holding placards opposing this move of the Government
- They did Twitter trending with the hashtag #குடிகெடுக்கும்எடப்பாடி
- They had media interviews with promises of banning / closing down TASMAC shops if they come to power, etc.
Irony (or Karma if you want to call it so) struck back in June 2021 when I saw a Twitter trending with the hashtag #குடிகெடுக்கும்_ஸ்டாலின்!
What had happened was that the DMK party had won the state elections in 2021 and is now in power in Tamilnadu.
Amidst the lockdowns for handling the second wave of COVID-19, the DMK has decided to open the TASMAC shops in Tamilnadu!!
At least when the AIADMK party was in power and opened TASMAC shops, the number of cases per day was <2000 but when the DMK has decided to take this step, the number of cases per day is ~15000. So, this is a true facepalm moment for most of us hailing from the state.
These questions still linger on …
- Will there not be any damage to civilian lives if the DMK opens TASMAC shops?
- What happened to the poll promises of DMK of closing down the TASMAC shops once they come to power?
- Does the DMK party have a plan for ridding TN of the financial dependency over TASMAC?
Such promises of banning the state sold alcohol just seems like a political gimmick by DMK. They have done it in the past many times and will continue to fool the gullible Tamil public in future as well.
