Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai on Friday, April 14 released what he called the ‘DMK files’, accusing many top leaders of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of owning questionable assets. He also levelled serious corruption charges against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Annamalai claimed that the assets listed in part one of the ‘DMK files’, purportedly worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore, are owned by 12 individuals including Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin (who is a minister himself), his son-in-law Sabareesan, and sister MP Kanimozhi; state ministers EV Velu and KN Nehru; and MPs TR Baalu, Kathir Anand, and Kalanidhi Veerasamy.
Addressing a press conference, Annamalai also launched a direct attack on CM Stalin, alleging that he had accepted a bribe of Rs 200 crore from an American firm in 2011, to secure a contract for the first phase of the Chennai metro project. “All the payments were made through shell companies,” Annamalai alleged, adding that he plans to file a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over the claim. Stalin was the deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between May 2009 and May 2011, when Karunanidhi was Chief Minister.
Months after a DMK minister questioned Annamalai for wearing an expensive Rafale watch “after claiming to have only four goats as his sole property,” Annamalai produced a bill for the watch. In December last year, Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji had questioned Annamalai’s possession of the limited edition luxury watch, and asked him to furnish its purchase receipt within an hour. Four months later, presenting what he claimed was the bill for the watch, Annamalai said on Friday, “The watch was purchased from Zimson watch store in Coimbatore on March 21, 2021. The bill will be uploaded online for people to verify details.” He said that the limited edition Rafale watch is currently owned by only two persons in India, adding that he had purchased it from a Coimbatore-based friend named Cherlathan Ramakrishnan.
Annamalai also screened a 15-minute-long video, with details of properties and businesses which he claimed belonged to certain DMK leaders. Explaining the rationale behind the valuation, he claimed that the total worth of the assets quoted in the video does not include alleged black money, benami properties, jewellery, luxury cars, and expensive watches owned by the DMK leaders and their family members.
At the press meet, Annamalai also launched a website named ‘En Mann En Makkal’ (My land, My people), which he claims will inform the public of his corruption allegations against DMK leaders. According to the video screened at the event, the second part of the ‘DMK files’ allegations will be released soon.
Hours after Annamalai’s press conference, flanked by DMK’s legal wing members and Rajya Sabha MPs P Wilson and NR Elango, the party’s organising secretary RS Bharathi strongly refuted Annamali’s claims.
“This morning, there was some drama. Annamalai said he would hold a press meet and expose the corruption of DMK leaders. But really, what corruption has he exposed? What is the specific corruption charge that Annamalai is raising?” Bharathi asked, adding, “He has just put details of some properties and their valuation, without making any specific allegations of corruption.”
Bharathi said that the details furnished by Annamalai had already been declared by the DMK leaders in their election affidavits as mandated by the Election Commission of India. “The [DMK] leaders shown in the video have contested in elections, and as we all know, furnishing assets and liabilities to the Election Commission is mandatory for candidates. MK Stalin, TR Baalu and Duraimurugan have all disclosed their property details in their election affidavits,” Bharathi said, claiming that the only new information provided by Annamalai was their purported valuation.
The DMK leader said that the party will pursue legal action against Annamalai for making “baseless allegations”. “The Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Departments are under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By alleging corruption by DMK leaders, is Annamalai indirectly calling these institutions inefficient?” Bharathi asked.
Responding to Annamalai’s specific allegation of CM Stalin receiving kickbacks in connection with the Chennai metro project in 2011, Bharathi asked, “What has the BJP-led Union government been doing since 2014? You are in power, prosecute us if we are corrupt. Are you saying the CBI and PM Modi are inefficient? That's a wild allegation.”
Reacting to Annamalai’s claims, senior journalist Mani told TNM he was surprised that a leader of the BJP, which is in power in the Union government, had levelled such serious charges against DMK leaders without any solid evidence. “The information released by Annamalai is already available in the public domain. A corruption charge must be specific, razor-sharp and focussed. In the past, when [former BJP MP] Subramanian Swamy levelled a series of corruption charges against the then CM Jayalalithaa in the mid-1990s, they were very specific. That is why, when the [disproportionate assets] case reached the Supreme Court, the accused were found guilty. But in Annamalai’s case, it’s not clear what he wants. Assuming that [all the assets listed] were ill-gotten wealth, what was the Modi government doing for the past nine years?” he questioned.