Chennai, March 17 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Police detained senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday ahead of her protest against the alleged multi-crore TASMAC scam.
Soundararajan, a former Governor of Telangana and Puducherry, was taken into custody from her residence under heavy police deployment.
As she was being escorted away, she told the media, “They are arresting me from my residence. I will not go separately; I want everyone to come with me.”
The Tamil Nadu BJP had earlier announced statewide protests on March 17, targeting the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) — the government-run liquor retail monopoly — over alleged financial irregularities.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently unearthed financial discrepancies in TASMAC amounting to nearly Rs 1,000 crore, a revelation that prompted BJP’s K. Annamalai to compare it to liquor scams in Delhi and Chhattisgarh.
He described the scam as “unprecedented” and claimed its scale could be even larger than initially reported. Annamalai stated that the BJP would lay siege to the TASMAC headquarters in Egmore, Chennai, and conduct similar demonstrations outside TASMAC outlets across the state.
He accused the ruling DMK government of trying to divert public attention by focusing on unrelated issues like the Indian currency symbol in recent days.
Senior BJP leader H. Raja echoed these sentiments, stating that while the ED had so far uncovered a Rs 1,000 crore scam, the actual misappropriation could be as high as Rs 2 lakh crore.
He demanded a thorough investigation into the matter. He also criticised the recently presented Tamil Nadu state budget, calling it nothing more than the DMK’s election manifesto for the 2026 Assembly elections.
The BJP has long accused the DMK of using TASMAC revenues for political gain. Annamalai cited the 2023 arrest of Senthilbalaji, Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise, by the ED.
He noted that after a year in custody, Senthil Balaji was reinstated with the same ministerial portfolio, which Annamalai claimed was a testament to the DMK’s dependence on TASMAC funds.
With Tamilisai Soundararajan’s detention and the BJP’s aggressive stance on the issue, the political battle over the TASMAC scam is expected to escalate in the coming days.
–IANS
aal/dpb
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
