Chennai, March 13 Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai on Thursday accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of attempting to divert public attention from the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the state's Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji, and liquor-supplying companies.
In a post on social media platform X, Annamalai said, "The ED has uncovered documents from distilleries linked to the generation of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1,000 crore, which was paid as kickbacks. The DMK has been exploiting common man to fill its party coffers by manipulating the system, and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is duty-bound to answer who received these kickbacks."
With the ED alleging financial irregularities of Rs 1,000 crore in the state-run TASMAC, the State BJP President questioned CM Stalin's moral right to continue in office.
He insisted that the Chief Minister must respond to the allegations and take responsibility for the corruption within TASMAC.
Annamalai, a former IPS officer-turned-politician, urged the people of Tamil Nadu to join the BJP's movement against what he described as the "corrupt DMK government".
The Tamil Nadu BJP has also announced a protest outside the TASMAC headquarters in Chennai on March 17.
The BJP leader had earlier alleged that the liquor scam, which had previously led to government changes in Delhi and Chhattisgarh, had now rocked Tamil Nadu following the ED's raids at TASMAC headquarters.
He claimed that the DMK government, through a flawed procurement policy, siphoned off at least Rs 1,000 crore and redirected the funds for election expenditures in 2024 and 2026.
On Thursday, the ED released a statement detailing its findings from the March 6 raids conducted at TASMAC offices, employees' residences, and corporate distilleries.
The central agency revealed that multiple irregularities were detected in TASMAC's operations, including tender manipulation and unaccounted cash transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore through distillery companies.
The ED said that its investigation provided concrete evidence of corrupt practices within TASMAC, confirming that kickbacks were involved in liquor dealings in Tamil Nadu.
Since TASMAC holds a monopoly over liquor sales in the state, the ED's findings have raised serious concerns about financial mismanagement and corruption within the Tamil Nadu government.
As the political battle intensifies, the BJP is set to escalate its protests, demanding transparency and accountability from the ruling DMK.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor