Chennai: Weeks after resigning from the BJP, Okay. Annamalai made his first main transfer in Tamil Nadu, laying out a five-year roadmap to sort out what he known as the rising drug abuse disaster within the state, the celebration’s important marketing campaign theme within the just lately concluded meeting polls.
The previous Tamil Nadu Individuals’s Get together chief has launched an in depth coverage doc titled ‘Drug-free coverage for Tamil Nadu’ beneath his We The Leaders (WTL) basis.
In keeping with Tutorial paper “The Fable of a Drug-Free Tamil Nadu” Quoted in Annamalai’s doc, Of the 47 respondents, 90% answered sure. Excessive or very excessive prevalence of substance abuse In Tamil Nadu.
The report additionally expressed concern over consuming in Tamil Nadu, mentioning that in keeping with the 2023-24 Nationwide Household Well being Survey, the proportion of drinkers within the inhabitants has risen to 23.7 per cent from 14.2 per cent within the earlier survey.
Asserting the coverage doc in a social media publish, Annamalai stated, “Medicine are dangerously infiltrating TN, threatening the way forward for our youth and our collective. To fight this disaster, WTL (We The Leaders) Basis has ready a coverage doc for a drug-free Tamil Nadu.”
By publishing this doc inside a couple of weeks Annamalai, who resigned from the BJP in early June over disagreements with the management over nationwide technique, is in search of to place himself as an aggressive, solutions-oriented chief outdoors the confines of a nationwide celebration.
Within the 2026 parliamentary elections, The rise in drug use amongst younger individuals is among the most distinguished issues. Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam made drug management one of many important election themes and criticized the then incumbent. DMK helps ‘drug tradition’. political celebration led by vijay He stated he was complicit in a criminal offense. TVK has dedicated to a drug-free state in its manifesto and youth blueprint.
Nevertheless, shortly after successful the election, TVK discovered itself dealing with assaults directed at it over the problem after an previous video on social media allegedly confirmed Personnel Administration Minister D. Sarath Kumar squeezing a white powdery substance on the display screen of his smartphone with an ATM/debit card and inserting a Rs 500 observe close by.
The 2-year-old video was allegedly recorded throughout an IPL match on the Massachusetts Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Opposition events, together with the BJP and DMK, interpreted this as a doable signal of drug use and questioned the credibility of the TVK authorities’s promise of a ‘drug-free Tamil Nadu’.
Annamalai and the Bharatiya Janata Get together additionally made the problem a serious marketing campaign plank, with Annamalai attacking the DMK for alleged regulation and order failures. This saga continues even after the election, because the TVK authorities has come beneath intense scrutiny over this difficulty.
Annamalai’s coverage paper particulars the disaster at hand and in addition explores greatest practices from all over the world within the combat towards medication. “The coverage doc additionally outlines a definitive five-year roadmap centered on strict enforcement, prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration to fully remove drug demand within the state,” he defined.
The coverage paper notes that what was as soon as confined to remoted areas is now spreading to varsities, universities, workplaces and communities throughout social lessons, resulting in household breakdown, lowered productiveness, disrupted schooling and elevated crime. In the meantime, respondents rated government-run rehabilitation and de-addiction services as solely reasonably efficient, expressed low confidence in authorities claims for regulation, and known as for stronger enforcement, higher follow-up care, and improved infrastructure.
Information cited in coverage doc It highlights points akin to large-scale seizures of hashish, artificial medication and cocaine in recent times.
Tamil Nadu accounted for a big share of the nation’s complete seizures in a number of classes, together with a staggering 83.24 per cent of India’s cocaine seizures in 2021, 303 kg out of 364 kg seized nationwide, and 43.66 per cent of the nation’s artificial drug blot seizures in 2024. Hashish seizures within the state additionally proceed to be vital, reaching 22,097 kilograms in 2021. 19,968 kg in 2021 and 2025 (till November).
of coverage doc Citing NCRB knowledge, seize As a result of shift to artificial medication, the nationwide seizure quantity jumped nearly sixfold, from 2,217 kg in 2020 to 12,084 kg in 2024. Annamalai’s coverage paper units out a imaginative and prescient for governance by proposing strategic modifications and presenting a sensible, evidence-based five-year plan (2026-2031).
The plan discusses 4 measures of powerful enforcement, together with technology-driven intelligence, AI evaluation, asset forfeiture, prevention by schooling and a dedicated white band motion, rehabilitation by built-in drug rehabilitation facilities, and neighborhood possession.
Political commentators see this as an try by Annamalai to take care of relevance and construct credibility as a coverage thinker and anti-incumbent voice, doubtlessly placing stress on the TVK authorities whereas strengthening his personal base.
Political analyst Sunil Kumar stated, “After quitting the Bharatiya Janata Get together, Annamalai is attempting to achieve momentum and lift modern points to remain related among the many individuals. There’s nonetheless a whole lot of time for him to start out campaigning independently. It stays to be seen whether or not such a transfer will get him a response, however it’s only the start.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Additionally learn: The Annamalai issue—why the Bharatiya Janata Get together wants a brand new southern technique
