Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Friday, July 14, 2023 said his fight for corruption-free, clean governance in Tamil Nadu was a fight between people like him belonging to the “first generation” and the “third generation” of “dynasts” in the ruling DMK.
Addressing journalists after appearing before the XVII Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet, Chennai, in connection with a defamation case filed against him by DMK MP and former Union Minister T.R. Baalu, he appealed to all the first generation graduates and those struggling to come up in their lives to join, what he called, the “long fight against corruption”.
Mr. Baalu had filed the case after Mr. Annamalai made corruption allegations against the former during an event in April to release what the BJP termed the ‘DMK Files’, containing a series of corruption allegations against a few senior DMK leaders.
Stating that his team of lawyers had received copies of Mr. Baalu’s affidavit, Mr. Annamalai said his legal team would try and implead family members of Mr. Baalu in the case, to bring out the whole truth. “We have complete faith in our judiciary and we are sure that the truth, [regarding corruption] beyond what has already been exposed by us, will come out during the course of this case,” he tweeted later.
On his earlier statements that he would soon be releasing the ‘DMK Files Part 2,’ he said he was discussing this with the party’s advocates, as the second part of the DMK Files would be about people who act as benamis for DMK leaders. He said there were differences of opinion about whether their names could be released to the public, or if it would be better to present this is a petition to the Governor.
Traffic congestion
The BJP leader’s appearance in court caused traffic congestion in Saidapet, as significant number of the BJP’s advocate wing members and other cadres had gathered. Mr. Annamalai said he did not want to prolong the media interaction as the Magistrate had expressed concern about the crowds. He, however, said the party would show “people’s power” during his future appearances in the court as all those who had gathered stood against corruption.
The next hearing of the case will be in the second fortnight of August.
