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Tamil Nadu BJP gives ‘proof’ of DMK’s graft to governor, demands action
The development comes ahead of Annamalai’s state-wide padyatra, set to begin on July 28, which Union home minister Amit Shah will kickstart from Tamil Nadu’s Rameshwaram
Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai on Wednesday handed over two silver trunks to governor R N Ravi containing documents which he said were evidence of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government’s corruption to the tune of ₹5,600 crore.
Annamalai, on Wednesday, led a delegation of state leaders to the Raj Bhavan seeking the governor’s action against DMK ministers, legislators and parliamentarians without naming anyone. The development comes ahead of Annamalai’s state-wide padyatra, set to begin on July 28, which Union home minister Amit Shah will kickstart from Tamil Nadu’s Rameshwaram.
“We will elaborate more on this during our padyatra to our friends in [the] press,” Annamalai said. “We demand answers from the corrupt DMK government.” Sharing a video, the BJP leader described the documents showed as part-two of the DMK files, a follow up to the part one, which was released in April.
Annamalai had assured back then that the second part would be released before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP claims to have produced evidence of three alleged scams of the DMK government in the state: ₹3,000 crore related to ETL Infrastructure Service Limited, ₹2,000 crore scam in the state transport department and ₹600 crore scam related to purchase of pesticides in the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation.
“The trunks contain benami transactions and corruption details of eight ministers,” said BJP state vice president Karu Nagarajan following the meeting.
“The Union home minister will speak about this in detail during the padyatra in Rameshwaram.”
In part one of the DMK files, Annamalai, on April 14, had accused the chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin, his family members and close leaders of large-scale corruption.
Annamalai alleged that “kickbacks of ₹200 crore” had been channelled by a multinational company through two shell firms to “chief minister M K Stalin for DMK’s 2011 election fund”.
Annamalai also then released a nearly 15-minute video clip “DMK Files (Part-I)” showcasing what he claimed were assets of ruling party personalities and its valuation.
All such allegations were dismissed by the DMK leaders as false and unfounded and they filed defamation cases against Annamalai at a Chennai court.
The petition filed Stalin, on May 10, sought Annamalai to be prosecuted for defamation under Section 199 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), justifying that such a defamation offence against a chief minister is against the state of Tamil Nadu since it relates to discharge of public functions.
“The state therefore is rightly interested in pursuing prosecution,” the petition said.
Reacting to BJP’s move, the DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathi said that they don’t know what is in the document given by Annamalai.
“This is to divert issues. We will respond to his allegations when we know what they are,” said Bharathi.
Meanwhile Stalin launched the DMK’s campaign for the 2024 elections from Trichy district on Wednesday.
With inputs from agencies.
