Image Source : PTI Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha

Chennai: Close on the heels of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar imposing a complete ban on alcohol in the state comes another promise – this time in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

Kicking off her election campaign at a massive rally in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha today promised alcohol prohibition in the state in a phased manner if she is elected to power in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

“If AIADMK comes back to power then prohibition will be introduced in phases. The timing of the liquor shops will be reduced, the bars will be closed, rehabilitation centres will be opened and the number of liquor outlets will be reduced,” she said.

Jayalalitha elaborated further saying that the prohibition could not come with the flick of a single signature and that doing so would require going “step by step”.

Addressing the rally, Jayalalitha also trained her guns on DMK president M Karunanidhi for lifting prohibition in 1971 and introducing liquor to a generation that did not know about the drink.

“Karunanidhi does not have any right to speak about prohibition,” she said.

At the rally, Jayalalitha, also the General Secretary of the AIADMK, introduced her party’s 21 candidates who will be in the fray in the upcoming polls from in and around the area.

Alcohol prohibition had featured as one of Nitish Kumar’s major promises in the run up to the elections in the state last year.

If implemented, Tamil Nadu will be the fifth state to impose a complete ban on alcohol. Other states that have implemented prohibition laws include Gujarat, Nagaland and Manipur.

(With agencies)

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