CHENNAI: Reacting to Annamalai’s allegations, DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi on Friday said the BJP chief has made wild allegations and legal action would be initiated against him if he fails to provide evidence to prove his charges. The ministers, MPs and DMK functionaries would initiate legal proceedings in their individual capacity against Annamalai in due course, he said.
"I think, in the coming days, Annamalai will be undertaking more yatras to courts than for his party," Bharathi said, addressing a press conference at the DMK headquarters in Chennai.
"Annamalai did not make a single corruption charge. The persons against whom he levelled those allegations have been contesting in elections, and they had declared their assets through sworn affidavits. Annamalai has just given the valuation of assets," Bharathi said.
Explaining further, Bharathi said, "LIC building was built at a cost of Rs.87 lakh. But today, its value would be around a thousand crore. Annamalai has also listed unconnected assets to certain functionaries. Such charges are not new to the DMK. The party had faced and proved wrong charges levelled by leaders like MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa."
Central agencies like Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate, which can take action with respect to offences levelled by Annamalai, are under the control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We are an open book and we have nothing to hide. We don't bother about such allegations. The DMK was in power six times and no one has proved any corruption charge against DMK governments," he said.
Bharathi said Annamalai is making such allegations to divert the attention from burning issues relating to Adani, Rs.20,000 crore shell company deposits, and the Arudhra scam in Tamil Nadu. There are reports that Annamalai and his associates have received Rs.84 crore in Arudhra scam and affected depositors had gone to the state BJP headquarters seeking justice.
On Annamalai's decision to seek a CBI probe into alleged payment of Rs.200 crore to Chief Minister MK Stalin in 2011, Bharathi said, "The BJP is in power at the centre and they could have taken action through their agencies. It is a wild allegation. The DMK is not afraid of CBI inquiries. If he thinks that CBI is under the union government and this case can be used to take revenge on the DMK, we are ready to face it."
"Is there any specific corruption charge against any of our ministers or MLAs? Does Annamalai have the guts to level such charges? Instead of showing the bill for purchasing the Rafale wristwatch, he has shown only a chit. A chit is different from a bill," Bharathi said.
Incidentally, just hours after the bill copy was uploaded, the DMK also pointed out a discrepancy. Taking to Twitter, DMK spokesperson Rajiv Gandhi pointed out a glaring mismatch in the serial number of the Zimson Times ‘delivery challan’ and the receipt produced by Annamalai. “The Zimson Times delivery challan specifies the Bell & Ross wristwatch model number as BR0394-RAFALE-CE and serial number as ‘BR0394EBL147’ and the receipt produced by Annamalai mentions “Bell and Ross wristwatch model number BR0394-RAFALE-CE-N and serial number as BR0394DAR147.1.”
Referring to Annamalai’s allegation about DMK properties worth Rs.1,408 crore, Bharathi dared Annamalai to submit relevant records within 15 days to him (Bharathi) to prove that these properties are owned by DMK. Annamalai must also provide evidence to prove his allegation that schools worth Rs.3,418 crore were owned by the DMK, Bharathi said.