Annamalai alleged that DMK received kickbacks from a company that won a bid related to the execution of the Chennai Metro Rail Phase I project.
Published May 01, 2023 | 7:43 AM ⚊ Updated May 01, 2023 | 9:29 AM
Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai. (Supplied)
Even as opposition parties have been accusing the BJP of using central government agencies to persecute its political rivals, the saffron party’s Tamil Nadu chief said he had complained to the CBI against the previous DMK regime.
State BJP president K Annamalai on Sunday, April 30, said he had lodged a complaint with the CBI on a project implemented during the previous DMK regime (2006-11), over which he had recently levelled corruption allegations.
Annamalai, a former IPS officer, had released “DMK Files”, in which he had listed the assets (and their valuation) allegedly belonging to leaders of the ruling party in the state.
Speaking to reporters, the BJP leader said his party was committed to fighting against corruption and it would reflect in its proposed statewide yatra, titled En Mann En Makkal (My Soil, My People), ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“You have started seeing it in Tamil Nadu also,” he said.
Responding to a question, Annamalai said he had lodged a complaint with the CBI about the Chennai Metro Rail Phase I project vis-à-vis kickbacks, and submitted proof as well.
“I was told that six others too have filed complaints. A firm which had taken part in the bidding process has filed a complaint.”
On April 14, Annamalai — referring to the DMK rule between 2006 and 2011 — alleged that payments were received by the party as kickbacks from a company that won a bid related to the execution of the Chennai Metro Rail Phase I project.
He had alleged that “kickbacks of ₹200 crore” had been channelled by a multinational company through two shell firms to “Chief Minister MK Stalin for DMK’s 2011 election fund”.
The BJP leader had said that he would complain to the CBI, seeking a probe.
Earlier in March, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the Union government was misusing central agencies for persecuting the BJP’s political rivals.
Vijayan levelled the charge while sharing a dais with his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin in Nagercoil on March 6. He called for a joint fight by the CPI(M) and the Dravidian party against the BJP.
“We have long talked about the political misuse of central investigative agencies and the agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI were being misused for political persecution,” the Kerala chief minister said.
Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar was arrested by the ED in a case related to the LIFE Mission housing scheme.
Leaders of nine Opposition parties, including Telangana chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging the “blatant misuse” of central agencies against the members of the Opposition.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were the other signatories.
The letter was sent after the arrest of Manish Sisodia, former deputy chief minister of Delhi, in the excise policy scam.
The ED questioned BRS MLC and KCR’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha, too, in the scam.
Referring to the recent discussions that the AIADMK’s top leadership had with BJP chief JP Nadda and top leader Amit Shah in Delhi, Annamalai said he was asked by the party brass to take part in that meeting and he participated.
A few days ago, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and other senior leaders including SP Velumani visited Amit Shah and Nadda in Delhi, along with Annamalai.
“We had discussions. Our goal is the 2024 LS polls. People are angry with the DMK government. We are seeing how this regime has become anti-people.”
The goal is to win all 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu as well as the lone seat in neighbouring Puducherry. The talks were on those lines, he said.
“The challenge before us is to transform into votes (favouring NDA) the mood that prevails in Tamil Nadu against the ruling DMK,” he said.
To a question related to seat sharing between the AIADMK and BJP, he said there was still a lot of time left for the Lok Sabha polls and hence it was premature to talk about it.
(With PTI inputs)
