On March 17, 2025, several senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu were detained by the police during protests against alleged corruption in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the state-run liquor retailer. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently reported unaccounted cash transactions and tender manipulations amounting to approximately ₹1,000 crore within TASMAC.
BJP state president K. Annamalai was detained near his residence as he attempted to join the planned protest at the TASMAC headquarters in Chennai. Former Governor and senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan was also detained outside her Chennai residence while trying to participate in the demonstration. Other prominent BJP figures, including Mahila Morcha chief and Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, Vinoj P. Selvam, and Amar Prasad Reddy, were among those detained by the police.
The BJP had organized the protest to highlight the alleged irregularities within TASMAC, following the ED’s findings of significant financial misconduct. The ED’s investigation uncovered issues such as tender manipulations and unaccounted cash transactions involving distillery companies and senior government officials.
In response to the allegations, Tamil Nadu’s Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji denied any wrongdoing, asserting that there was no basis for the ₹1,000 crore scam claim and that the TASMAC tender process left no room for malpractice.
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The detentions have intensified the political confrontation between the BJP and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in Tamil Nadu, bringing the issue of corruption within state-run enterprises to the forefront of political discourse.
