PMK President Anbuman Ramadoss today announced a sit-in mass protest on 10 June at 11 am in Chennai against the state’s failure to enact an online gaming ban law. In a statement, he said Tamil Nadu is the state that loses most of the money from online gambling in India.

Ramadoss recently met Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi to press for a ban on online rummy. Governor Ravi expressed surprise over the online rummy issue and said he was not aware of the issue but will look into the matter for initiating appropriate action.

There is a race among the political parties in Tamil Nadu to occupy the prime opposition space with AIADMK looking weak after the demise of the charismatic leader Jayalalitha. PMK is among the parties that is aggressively positioning itself as a prime opposition. PMK currently has only 5 seats and is the distant second in the opposition alliance led by AIADMK with 65 seats.

Ever since the decision of the High Court in August 2021, the opposition has been demanding the government enact a fresh law.  Last week, AIADMK coordinator and former CM O. Panneer Selvam (OPS) demanded the DMK government ban online rummy and other games. Referring to Chief Minister Stalin’s statements, OPS said so far no action is taken by the DMK government. Yesterday, former CM E. Palaniswami lambasted the government for delaying in enacting a gaming ban law.

Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu government announced that it will form a special investigation team to inquire into the death by suicide of persons who were caught in a debt trap by online gambling. A Superintendent of Police from the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) would lead the SIT.

Tamil Nadu DGP C. Sylendra Babu recently warned the public that playing online rummy could lead to debt and suicide. The top cop said the number of people losing money and jewellery due to online gaming has increased in the last few months.