CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Limited Corporation (TASMAC) has recorded Rs 500 crore in sales over the last three days. This twofold increase in alcohol sales may indicate that large amount of alcohol had reached voters during the campaign trails.
With the election commission mandating closure of TASMAC outlets from Tuesday, it looks like political parties waited till the last moment to stock up on alcohol for distribution on poll day. It is learnt that TASMAC sold over Rs 140 crore worth alcohol on Saturday and over Rs 160 crore worth alcohol on Sunday.
On Monday, the State’s sole liquor distributor and seller recorded sales of Rs 215 crore. Usually, TASMAC records anywhere between Rs 80-90 crore in sales in a day.
“This time, the sale of alcohol before the polls is unusually high. Alcohol has always been associated with the polls but the extent to which it has come to, is worrying,” said N Periyasami, president of TASMAC employees association affiliated with the AITUC.
While Periyasami attributed the absence of speeches proposing complete prohibition by political parties as one of the main reasons behind increase in alcohol sales, cadre of political parties indicated that the sales have increased not because of quantity but because of quality of alcohol that is being procured for distribution.
Voters want only ‘quality’ alcohol
“In the previous elections, we used to distribute the cheapest alcohol that was available in TASMAC. People used to take it without complains and vote but things have changed,” said a ground-level AMMK functionary.
Cadres of other parties reveal that this trend has forced parties to stock up on alcohol which costs at least Rs 120 for a quarter as compared to the sub Rs 100 quarters that were distributed during previous elections. “We can buy ‘Monkey Blood’ (cheap alcohol) ourselves, political parties should respect us by treating us to nice alcohol if they want our support,” said K Seenu, a roadside vendor in Tambaram.