New Delhi: BJP Tamil Nadu chief and former IPS K. Annamalai’s choice of a Rafale watch has become the subject of intense political debate in the state, with the DMK attacking him for wearing a watch that costs close to Rs 5 lakh. Annamalai defended his stance by saying that the watch cost him Rs 3.5 lakh and that he wears it to flaunt his nationalist credentials since it was made of parts of the Rafale aircraft which he cannot fly.
“This watch will be with me until I die. This is a collector’s edition. Who else can buy except us Indians? For our nation, this watch was made using parts from Rafale aircraft by Dassault. Only after Rafale entered, the rules of war changed, increasing India’s reach substantially,” he said Saturday during a press conference in Chennai.
India signed a deal with French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation in 2016 for 36 Rafale aircraft, all of which have already arrived.
On 17 December, Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader V. Senthil Balaji took to Twitter to target Annamalai for wearing a limited edition Rafale watch made by Paris-headquartered watchmaker Bell & Ross to celebrate the fighter aircraft developed by Dassault Aviation.
“Only 500 pieces of the Rafale watch were made for the French company, costing Rs 5 lakh. A man who claims to own only four goats is wearing this watch! Can he share the receipt of the watch he bought,” asked Balaji.
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What is the ‘special edition’ watch
The Bell & Ross Rafale limited edition watch was launched in 2015 in collaboration with Dassault Aviation, the French aerospace company which designed and manufactured the Rafale fighter jets.
In an interview in May 2015, Dassault CEO Éric Trappier shared that the special edition watch was modelled on the aircraft. Made using ultra-high temperature ceramics — which is also used in the design of heat shields and noses for rockets — the watch was made in a single batch of 500, and Annamalai claimed he had the 149th piece of the series.
The watch is priced at 5,200 Euros which amounts to a little over Rs 4.5 lakh.
“The limited edition watch truly represents it (Rafale) via various features. The watch is a precious tool for the pilot and is required to be easy to read. Therefore, the Bell & Ross BR 03-94 is designed with simplicity for high legibility in a pressured situation. The dial design is similar to the instruments found in the fighter plane, which is formed to be very precise for enhanced readability. The Rafale adopts these important traits effortlessly both in the functionality and aesthetic,” Trappier had said.
These Bell & Ross watches have been designed keeping the cockpit theme in mind, with a square-shaped timepiece and a round bezel. Before launching this particular edition, the two companies had also collaborated in 2013 for a limited edition watch dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Dassault’s Falcon business jet.
Responding to the DMK’s barbs, Annamalai said in a series of tweets that he has owned the watch from before he was appointed Tamil Nadu BJP president.
Senthil Balaji, targeting Annamalai again Tuesday for not being able to produce the bill for the luxury watch, said: “He (Annamalai) says he will declare his assets during a padyatra. Wasn’t it all declared when he contested in Aravakurichi a year ago? Will his nomination papers not show how much he earned back then? If he had bought the watch before the elections, he should have declared it in his assets. If he bought it later, he should have been able to show the bill.”
The DMK minister further alleged: “You (Annamalai) are worried. If you are an honest politician, simply show the bill. But you create a war room, assign men and threaten businessmen to pay you money.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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