CHENNAI: The DMK has slapped BJP state president K Annamalai with a legal notice seeking an unconditional apology over his allegations against the party and its president M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu chief minister, within 48 hours. The ruling party also demanded damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore that would be donated to the CM’s public relief fund.
The notice, dated April 15 and released to reporters on Sunday, was issued by DMK’s organising secretary RS Bharathi and pointed out that the allegations lacked any material basis or cogent evidence. As Annamalai and his party were not able to make an electoral mark in TN, he has been making constant attempts to defame, scandalise and tarnish the reputation of the DMK president, and other leaders and members of the party, the notice charged.
Regarding Annamalai listing several assets and alleging they were all owned by the DMK, Bharathi said, “You (Annamalai) must understand the basic difference between assets of an individual and the assets of a political party.” As an example, he recalled that in 2019 the BJP constructed a party office in New Delhi and one in Madhya Pradesh at the cost of Rs 700 crore and Rs 100 crore respectively. Stating that the BJP had not disclosed the source of the funds for the buildings, he asked, “Can it be assumed that the entire money was a result of corruption and from ill-gotten wealth?”
The notice also quoted from a recent media investigation, according to which the BJP had secured Rs 5,270 crore out of Rs 9,208 crore donated through electoral bonds sold between 2018 and 2022. “The source of these funds and the names of the corporate entities, who donated these funds have not been disclosed to the public. Can anyone presume that every rupee of these donations and expenditure is an ill-gotten wealth of the BJP?” Bharathi wondered and said merely because the party has certain properties, creating innuendos that they are the result of ill-gotten wealth is per se defamatory.
‘Annamalai should remove offensive video in 48 hours’
REFERRING to Annamalai’s allegations that Stalin as minister for planning, development and special initiatives department in 2006-11, received Rs 200 crore as election funds to confirm the contract of Alstom in Phase I of the Chennai Metro Rail project, Bharathi said, “The DMK president has not received a single paise as illegal gratification from any person throughout his 56 years of public life.”
The legal notice said Annamalai should remove the offending video of the press conference in which he made the allegations from his Facebook account as well as from his website (https://enmannenmakkal. com). Bharathi also said that if Annamalai failed to comply within 48 hours of the notice, he would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against him (Annamalai) and hold him personally liable for all costs and consequences arising therefrom.
‘Assets of party and person are different’
Saying that there is a difference between assets of a party and those of a person, Bharathi cited examples of BJP constructing party offices in New Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, and its earnings from electoral bonds between 2018 and 2022