BJP leaders detained in Chennai amid protest over alleged liquor scam

India Today

BJP leaders were detained by Tamil Nadu police in Chennai during a planned protest against alleged corruption in TASMAC, the state-run liquor corporation. The protest, organised by BJP state president Annamalai.

Transcript

00:00These are the visuals coming in of the BJP that has organized a protest.

00:05We are told already the Tamil Nadu police officials have detained the BJP leaders, workers

00:11and karyakartas.

00:12Are we looking at big leaders who ran this protest, Pramod, as visuals come in from Chennai

00:18about it looks like some of the leaders are being detained, taken away by the cops, has

00:22the protest started, tell us more.

00:29The actual protest was planned for 11am and the area where the protest was supposed to

00:33happen was like Annamalai was planning for nearly a one and a half kilometre rally from

00:38one stadium called Rajarathinam to Talamudu Nadarajar building but even before that could

00:41initiate a large police presence has been placed over their deployment along with police

00:46deployment in front of Tasmac shop, I mean the actual company where it is and also the

00:51office and then what happened is that since morning one after the other the BJP leaders

00:55are either being detained or placed under house custody.

00:58For example, Tamil Nadu's former governor who also spoke against the issue, like already

01:04a lot of police were placed in front of her house and as we speak she is also being detained,

01:08so was Vinod B. Selvam.

01:09We are still yet to find out what exactly is happening at Annamalai's house because

01:13it's a little far away from Chennai, it's at the outskirts of Pooja.

01:17As you were speaking, Pramod, visuals are coming in, looks like Tamil Nadu has also

01:21been detained for now by the cops and other leaders as well.

01:26Now remember BJP is protesting over other issues saying, one the DMK has been misinforming,

01:33rumour mongering being done by the DMK government on the national education policy and other

01:38issues.

01:39Now a protest in which the latest visuals that have come in looks like some of the leaders

01:44including Tamil Nadu's former governor who is a senior leader of the BJP currently being

01:50taken away and detained by the cops.

01:52Pramod, we are staying on this big story coming in from Chennai, what about the reactions

01:56tell us from the Dravida Munetra Karagam, what is the DMK saying about the ED raids,

02:01about the controversy over liquor gate and more?

02:08One thing about this particular issue is that the minister for the particular department

02:12Senthil Pallaji has gone ahead, he has refuted whatever the charges that were placed by the

02:16ED.

02:17He has stated that like the actual DDs that were taken by those who have asked for the

02:21tender, the KYC details were mismatching and the ED has also said that it looks like even

02:26when the tender clearly stated that the rule stated that there should be more than one

02:30player when it comes to acquiring a tender, tenders were given to somebody like in certain

02:34conditions where there was only one person who has sought a tender.

02:37So the three FARs are very clear, one is overpricing, second one task mark officials getting kickbacks

02:45from distillery owners and the third one is that higher officials of task mark actually

02:50getting bribes from, collecting bribes from retail owners and also for like getting money

02:56for transfers.

02:57These are the three important FARs which have been filed by ED when it comes to the ED raid

03:02on task mark shops, Pooja.

03:04All right, stay on with me, more and more visuals now coming in, these are BJP leaders

03:08being detained by the cops, let's try and dip in for a while and listen into what's

03:14happening.

03:15Appears to be a conversation with police, conversation with the cops and eventually

03:30we did see her visuals coming in of being taken into a police vehicle and this is reflected

03:37that the protest will not continue for very long.

03:40Pramod, so I take that question to you, if the big leaders are going to be detained,

03:44looks like the workers also were detained in a police bus, women personnel coming forth

03:48to take away Tamil Sai Sandhya Rajan as well, that means there wouldn't be a BJP protest

03:54so to say for very long.

03:56We are not exactly sure Pooja, it looks like the police have decided to detain these leaders

04:03just like you mentioned for the same reason but still we are not sure what exactly is

04:06happening.

04:07Stay on with me, Pramod, let's go across now to these visuals coming in from on the

04:35ground interacting with the police personnel, remember because Tamil Sai is a woman, women

04:39personnel have been pushed ahead and there is also a visual that I saw where she is also

04:46being taken away.

04:47As we stay with these visuals, Pramod, tell us the reasons of the protest.

04:52Is it the liquor gate controversy?

04:54Is it also about the national education policy?

04:58What is this really protest on the grounds of?

05:03Well, this time it's not about national education policy or three-language policy.

05:07Annamalai very clearly stated that this issue is only pertaining to the task market.

05:11In fact, the actual area he has chosen, that kind of has a connection with the kind of

05:16like you know, we can actually find a kind of connection between what is happening here

05:19because that particular building, Talamuthu and Natarajar, that actual names are of Moripol

05:25Thiyagigal which means those who died during the language war.

05:28So that… the name of the building, it's named after them.

05:31So this is where Annamalai wanted to hold the protest, kind of like you know, finding

05:34a different connection to the issue.

05:36But he very clearly stated that this is solely about the task market scam.

05:40He claims that a minimum of 1000 crores after DMK came to power, that is since 2021.

05:46And that's the reason the BJP wanted to take it very big.

05:48But for now, all the leaders of BJP, most of them inside and around Chennai are being

05:52detained as we speak, Pooja.

05:54Alright, so these are the visuals coming in as Pramod Madhav is telling us.

05:59This is primarily on the task mark issue, the ED raids that are currently on.

06:09So could the ED raids also follow arrests of senior DMK functionaries and leaders?

06:14And could it go the Delhi way?

06:16Will the DMK have a strategy in place?

06:18Because we also have elections coming up next year for the state.

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