The DMDK co-uld be heading for potential embarrassment on Tuesday morning, when the Re-turning Officer of the Alalndur Assembly constituency scrutinises the affidavit filed with the nomination of its by-election candidate, M Kamaraja. The sticky situation arose after AAP candidate, ‘Gnani’ V Sankaran, produced Kamaraja’s affidavit filed for the 2011 local body polls and pointed out that he had not declared many properties he has mentioned in his most recent affidavit.
“Maybe they file whatever they want to thinking nobody is looks at these documents. But, there are many dedicated RTI activists who pore over them and bring the discrepancies to light,” said Gnani, a political columnist and former journalist.
The questions raised by Gnani pertain to an 1,800 sq ft flat in Kamaraja’s wife’s name, which he has declared as purchased in 2010, for `15 lakh. This did not find mention in the affidavit he filed to contest from Ward No 138 in the 2011 local body elections. Kamaraja had also declared then that his wife did not possess a PAN card and had no source of income.
“That’s the question we have raised. How can someone with no PAN card and no income purchase a flat? And the bigger question is, how can a candidate leave that out of his nomination?” asked Gnani.
Kamaraja’s 2011 declaration, provided by Gnani, also did not mention six properties, which his 2014 affidavit claims were all purchased between 2005 and 2009. All six of these properties, estimated to have a market value of abo-ut `4.32 crore, are missing in the 2011 affidavit.
“Some RTI activists bro-ught it to our attention th-at there is another prope-rty that Kamaraja, the DMDK West Chennai district secretary, has not declared in his affidavit. This was tracked through the EB connection,” said Gnani.