Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will introduce prohibition if voted to power in next year’s Tamil Nadu state assembly elections, party treasurer M.K. Stalin said.

“The first thing we will do is ban of liquor and closure of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shops across the state," Stalin said at a meeting on Monday in Sholinganallur in south Chennai.

The DMK held a statewide protest demanding total prohibition of liquor.

TASMAC collected liquor tax revenue of ₹ 23,401 crore in 2013-14, of which ₹ 17,532 crore was sales tax and ₹ 5,868 crore excise duty.

DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, who is the father of Stalin, on Friday requested Tamil Nadu governor K. Rosaiah to urge the state government to pass an ordinance or adopt a resolution in the state assembly to implement prohibition and close all TASMAC liquor outlets.

Karunanidhi’s demand came after the death last month of Gandhian activist Sasi Perumal, who collapsed while holding a protest outside a shop in Kanyakumari district.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has alleged that the DMK has undertaken the anti-liquor campaign with an eye on next year’s polls, noting that it was a DMK government that had removed a ban on liquor in 1971.

Karunanidhi clarified in a detailed letter to his party members that he had been forced to remove prohibition because of the financial strain it had caused to Tamil Nadu.

PTI contributed to this story.

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