"Everything transparent in TASMAC," says TN Minister Senthil Balaji after BJP claims liquor scam in state

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 14 (ANI): Following Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and liquor-supplying companies in Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji denied the charges and stated that the state government would face this legally.
"ED have alleged Rs 1000 crores corruption without any basis. Before ED one person made an accusation Rs 1000 crores scam then ED also says same in their statement. People are aware that there are thousands of meanings behind this. Government will face the ED searches on TASMAC legally," the Minister said.
"Everything is transparent as far as TASMAC is concerned. As far as purchase in concerned it would be done calculating average of last three months of purchase brand. By taking average of last three years and last month purchase, TASMAC will give purchase order to them. So, we have not shown any discount to anyone on giving purchase orders. Everything is transparent. There is no room for any malpractices in TASMAC and government will face ED searches legally," he added.
The Minister claimed that there had been no policy changes in TASMAC functioning.
People have got faith in Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin. TASMAC is being administrated by Tamil Nadu Government. It is not a private enterprise. Have we taken any new policy decision on TASMAC. It is functioning with same old policy
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday accused Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin of spreading baseless rumours about the three-language policy and other issues to divert attention from ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on TASMAC and liquor-supplying companies in Tamil Nadu.
BJP state Chief K Annamalai said, "The ED has uncovered documents from the distilleries linked to the generation of unaccounted cash of Rs1000 Crores, which were paid as kickbacks. DMK has been fleecing common people to fill their party's coffers by rigging the system, and TN CM is duty-bound to answer the people who received these kickbacks. He should also ask himself if he has the moral right to continue as the CM of TN. "
In a post on X, BJP leader Amit Malviya said, "Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is spreading baseless rumours about the three-language policy, NEP, delimitation, and the removal of the Rs symbol from the budget document to distract the public from the ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on TASMAC, the Liquor Minister, and liquor-supplying companies in Tamil Nadu."
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs walked out of the State assembly on Friday during the budget presentation over the alleged Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) scam.
After the walkout, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami addressed the media, alleging that a corruption of over Rs 40,000 crores is possible in TASMAC.
He claimed that the government did not take any action even after a raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He also demanded that the MK Stalin-led DMK government should resign.
"ED has said that there has been corruption of more than Rs 1,000 crore in TASMAC. The investigation is ongoing. It is possible that there has been over Rs 40,000 crore of corruption in TASMAC. The government did not take any action even after the ED raid. We demand that the DMK government should resign over this," he said.
ED, Chennai, conducted search operations at various premises across many districts of Tamil Nadu under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for various offences related to TASMAC and its associated entities/persons, said an official statement from the Central agency.
In a post on X, ED said, "ED, Chennai has conducted search operations at various premises across many districts of Tamil Nadu on 06.03.2025 under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, for various offences related to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) and its associated entities/persons. During the search operations, various incriminating documents were recovered and seized." (ANI)