CHENNAI: Even while the PMK was equating party founder S Ramadoss with Mahatma Gandhi on Prohibition, the DMK released pictures of Gandhian Sasiperumal, who staged many protests demanding Prohibition, meeting its leader M Karunanidhi and thanking him for the promise to bring Prohibition back.
The PMK, which continued its attack on Karunanidhi, also flayed the State government’s move to open elite liquor shops. Ramadoss alleged the government had planned to open 452 such shops and vowed to stop the move through protests. He argued that production would go down as workers and youth would consume liquor and the total economic growth of the State would be hit.
PMK president G K Mani, reacting to DMK principal secretary Duraimurugan’s poser if Ramadoss were the guardian of Prohibition after Mahatma Gandhi, said, “As far as the PMK is concerned, we have never seen Mahatma Gandhi. But, we see Maruthuvar Ayya (Ramadoss) as the Gandhi who has come to eradicate liquor”.
Denying that PMK was not trying to capture power by promising anti-liquor policy, Mani said, “The DMK could have spread such a net during election time. Ramadoss has been insisting on Prohibition even before joining politics.
Anbumani Ramadoss becoming Chief Minister and making the first signature to introduce Prohibition is not a dream, but the compulsion of times”.
Reiterating the charges against Karunanidhi, the PMK leader said Duraimurugan should not get angry for speaking the truth.
Reacting to the issue, Social Democratic Party president Tehelan Bhakavi advised the PMK to welcome the DMK’s promise instead of finding fault with its earlier activities. “If the PMK’s real aim is Prohibition, it should join those raising voice against it and support their demand. At a time, when consensus was building among political parties for Prohibition and its implementation appearing bright, PMK should not indulge in cheap politics by claiming that it alone has the right to make the demand.”