CHENNAI: Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday grilled the DMK government for reopening TASMAC outlets last week. While speaking on a motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, Palaniswami asked why the government hurried to open liquor outlets when the Covid infections were still high. “The same DMK had opposed opening of liquor outlets last year when the AIADMK was in power,” he added.
In response, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V Senthil Balaji said that the shops remain closed in the districts where the infection rate is high. The outlets were opened only in 27 districts where the test positivity rate is 2.8 per cent.
Countering this, Palaniswami said, “The DMK had condemned us for opening the outlets when the State was reporting just 580 Covid cases. However, they opened them when the State is witnessing around 12,000 daily cases.”
“We opposed the decision last year because the State’s test positivity rate (TPR) was 10.6 per cent then. But now, it’s just 3.6 per cent. It should be recalled that, even with the high TPR, the then government had approached the Supreme Court to vacate the High Court’s stay which prevented the AIADMK government from opening the liquor outlets,” Senthil Balaji replied. It was the second day that the Assembly witnessed heated debates over the opening of TASMAC outlets.