Chennai: Harping on his agenda to fight corruption, BJP state president K. Annamalai Friday launched a four-part series, the ‘DMK Files’, on alleged corruption by leaders of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.
The first part of the series had a 15-minute video giving details of the assets, worth about Rs 1.34 lakh crore, of 13 DMK leaders, including CM M.K. Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi, son-in-law V. Sabareesan, sister Kanimozhi and cousin Kalanithi Maran.
Declaring his theme for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll would be ‘En Mann, en Makkal’ (My land, my people), Annamalai said he will release the next three parts of ‘DMK Files’ in a phased-manner in the run up to the general election.
Apart from allegations against Stalin of taking bribes for favouring tender for the phase 1 of Chennai Metro Line project, Annamalai also questioned the source of income of Udhayanidhi’s production house Red Giant Movies, and accused Sabareesan of being involved in money laundering.
At the party’s headquarters, Annamalai told reporters that his ‘expose’ would help the people realise the true colour of the ‘Dravidian model’.
Others named in Friday’s ‘expose’ were DMK ministers K.N. Nehru, K. Ponmudi, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and MPs S. Jagathrakshakan, T.R. Baalu, D.M. Kathir Anand, and Kalanidhi Veeraswamy.
The ‘DMK Files’ were compiled by over 35 people who worked for the last six months, BJP spokesperson Surya Narayanan said.
DMK organisational secretary R.S. Bharathi dismissed the revelations of Annamalai “a joke.” “All candidates he has listed have given their asset details in their affidavits. If there is even one violation, any citizen can challenge the election,” he asserted.
Similarly, DMK general secretary Durai Murugan — whose son Kathir Anand figured in the list — called it “a political stunt”.
Senior political analyst Priyan said that the Opposition has the right to bring out corruption charges against the ruling party, but added that the allegations made right now “will not have much of an impact”.
Annamalai’s posturing as the champion against corruption does make him look like a fighter but with several allegations of corruption within the BJP in the state, to “clear one’s own name before exposing others becomes important,” Priyan added.
In his press briefing, Annamalai asserted that the BJP would talk about the scam and corruption of “every single party that has stayed in power”, an indirect reference to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
The alliance with the AIADMK has been rocky over the last several weeks, with Annamalai’s purported remark during a BJP closed-door meeting on “clean politics” and cutting ties with the AIADMK going viral.
Target DMK first family
Udhayanidhi made movies worth Rs 300 crore during 2006-2011 when the DMK was in power, Annamalai claimed. While most of these films “failed”, Annmalai questioned, how Udhayanidhi financed the movies.
The BJP state chief alleged that the current net worth of Udhayanidhi is Rs 2,039 crore. In 2021, according to media reports, Udhayanidhi had declared assets worth Rs 33 crore, an income of Rs 4.89 lakh for 2019-20, and a liability of Rs 1.35 lakh.
The second set of questions were with regard to the ties that Sabareesan has with St Georges Bank, an organisation that Annamalai alleges of being involved in money laundering.
The last set of questions were “direct allegations” against Stalin. The first was with regard to the MoU signed with Noble Steel for ₹1,000 crore in March 2022. Ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi were one-time directors for Noble Steels in 2009 and 2016, the ‘expose’ claimed.
The second allegation pertained to the Phase 1 allocation of Chennai metro rail project in 2011. “Stalin accepted a Rs 200 crore bribe from Alstom through its technical consultant based out of Singapore and Hong Kong,” Annamalai claimed.
Countering this charge, the DMK questioned why no action had taken place, so far. “These are wild allegations and if there were any illegality do you think the BJP would have been silent for so long? Do you mean to say the CBI is inefficient? Is Modi inefficient? Is Amit Shah inefficient?” Bharathi said.
The DMK challenged Annamalai to produce documents of DMK-owned schools, colleges and Universities, as claimed by him in 15 days. Bharathi added that after consultation with the party, a legal course of action would be taken.
Controversial Rafale watch
Meanwhile, Annamalai tried to clear the controversy surrounding his expensive Rafale watch.
“The watch was owned by Cheralanathan Ramakrishnan based in Coimbatore. There are only 2 of these watches sold in India, and this is the 147th watch of the limited edition watch,” the cop-turned-politician said and produced an invoice purportedly as proof of the Rs 3 lakh paid to buy the timepiece on 27 May, 2021.
Later, the DMK took potshots at the BJP leader over his costly watch. “Annamalai started his press meet by cheating the people. He has given a chit claiming it to be proof. A proper receipt was not produced. A chit is no proof,” DMK leader Bharathi said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Governorships to NCW, Modi govt’s giving Tamil Nadu BJP leaders key posts. What it signals