Liquor shops reopen in Tamil Nadu on a spirited note, DMK allies stage protest

CHENNAI: Tipplers thronged liquor shops in Tamil Nadu on Thursday morning as the outlets reopened after 42 days. The Tasmac liquor outlets were shut on March 25 when the lockdown to combat Covid-19 came into effect.
There are around 5,300 liquor shops in Tamil Nadu, of which more than 550 outlets located in Chennai and its peripheries would remain closed.
Police personnel have been deployed at the shops to control the crowd. Barricades and circles were in place to maintain social distancing among customers.
Customers were issued tokens and offered sanitisers to clean their hands before reaching the counters.
A liquor shop in Coimbatore. Photo J Jackson
At Kadambattur near Tiruvallur, people were seated in queues on the side of the road.
Tasmac has announced that liquor will not be sold to customers who do not wear masks. They must show an identity proof for buying liquor.
Black protest
As the liquor shops opened, cadres of DMK and its alliance parties protested outside their residences and party offices. Wearing black dresses, they staged the protest to condemn the reopening of the liquor shops and the Tamil Nadu government’s failure to curb the spread of Covid-19.
DMK president MK Stalin along with his wife Durga, son Udayanidhi, daughter and party cadre raised slogans against AIADMK government. Stalin wore a black shirt, black pants and a black mask and held a black flag.
Leaders of the alliance parties like CPM, CPI, Congress, MDMK and others also staged similar protests.