DMK counters BJP chief’s allegation with Rs 500 crore legal notice

Chennai: Ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu sent a legal notice to the state BJP chief K Annamalai demanding Rs.500 crores in damages after Annamalai released ‘ DMK Files’ detailing properties owned by DMK leaders, ministers, MLAs and MPs.

DMK’s organising secretary RS Bharati in the legal notice asked Annamalai to offer an apology for his ‘false’ claims, while demanding him to delete the video from social media in 48 hours of receiving the notice, The News Minute reported.

While calling the allegations as ‘false and malicious’ lacking ‘proof’, DMK leader threatened the BJP chief with legal action.

The legal notice that termed ‘DMK Files’ as wrongful, demeaning and imaginary, also said that Annamalai ‘exaggerated the worth of some assets belonging to the DMK, included other assets that are not related to the party and made the false allegation that the party has 1408.94 crores worth of assets’.

The ruling party, countering Annamalai’s charges, said that it is a lie that schools owned by DMK value 3474.18 crores and that colleges and universities are worth 34, 184.71 crores.

Alongside defending its properties, DMK quoting studies asked whether 5,270 crores of total 9,208 crore rupees of electoral bonds the BJP received was also in illegal manner.

DMK clarifying further said ‘the wealth or institutions owned by a member or leader of the party in an individual capacity will not belong to the party’, according to the report.

To explain the difference between both, the legal notice offered an analogy to Annamalai: ‘you often say that you have 3 or 4 goats, now can those goats also be considered the assets of the BJP? Can your Rafael watch be considered an asset of the BJP?’

DMK slammed the allegation of Annamalai that MK Stalin during his tenure between 2006 and 2011 received 200 crore by awarding the contract for the first phase of Chennai Metro Rail Project to a company.

DMK said that The AIADMK that formed the next government continued the project, which was opened by the Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu, then chief minister Jayalalithaa with the same company again getting the project.

The notice asked whether Annamalai with his allegation meant to say that the AIADMK and the Prime Minister had taken part in the corruption.