On Sunday (18 December 2022), V. Senthilbalaji, the DMK Minister in-charge of selling liquor to Tamil Nadu people got personal with Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai levelling allegations about the latter’s watch.
In a social media post, the DMK Minister claimed “Annamalai, (referring him derogatorily) who claims to own just 4 goats as his property, is wearing a Rafale watch, which costs more than ₹5 lakhs of which there are only 500 wristwatches. If he can show the receipt of that watch in the next one hour, many commoners can also buy and enjoy.”
Calling Annamalai a ‘national disease’, the DMK Minister said “A ‘national disease’, sorry a ‘nationalist’ wearing a foreign watch, how come he rose to the level of wearing a watch worth ₹5 lakh?”
The Minister’s choice of words to refer to the BJP leader is indicative of the gutter level politics of Dravidian Stockists.
The rant by the DMK minister in-charge of liquor sales is indicative that he is rattled by Mr. Annamalai’s recent speech at Kovilpatti.
Annamalai’s message at Kovilpatti was loud and clear. Tamil Nadu is at the cusp of a political change. This is the age of politics by the common man, for the common man and of the common man. The space is slowly ceding away from the corrupt crocodiles of Dravidian Stockists.
Feeling the heat, the DMK seem to have stumbled Annamalai’s ₹4 lakh worth Rafale watch.
A Dare To DMK
Unlike Dravidian Stockist politicians who live a luxurious life by minting money under the table at the cost of the common man, Annamalai is a man who was a successful IPS officer, received a monthly salary and post voluntary retirement, he has been receiving a standard agricultural income.
First things first, it has been clarified by Annamalai that the watch was bought by him in May 2021, the details of which he has announced to release in the coming days.
The watch costs ₹3.9 lakh (including import duty) and is the Rafale special edition which was made when India ordered Rafale aircraft and it has parts of Rafale aircraft.
According to Annamalai, the watch was bought to commemorate the occassion of India successfully purchasing the Rafale aircrafts from France. The watch may not be made in India but it is a memento of a rising India that has successfully added more firepower with Rafale aircrafts. Unlike the defence deals of Congress era, this deal happened without the involvement of middlemen like Ottavio Quattrocchi (Bofors) or Christian Michel James (Augusta Westland). Despite the Supreme Court of India categorically giving a clean chit to the Modi government, that the DMK is still harping on to this done-and-dusted deal is testimony to their political deficiency.
But Annamalai isn’t your usual politician on whom one can sling mud and get away. As he says often and is evident from his acitivities, he gives as good as he gets. Annamalai has announced that he would be furnishing all his lifetime Income Tax statements, photocopies of his bank account records for the last 10 years with every single income accounted for, details of movable and immovable properties worth more than ₹1 lakh that he holds, and the goats and cows he owns.
“If anybody can find 1 paise of property more than what I have declared anywhere in the world, then all of my property will be given to the Govt. Now I leave it to my TN brothers & sisters to decide whether they want to seek this from the DMK party leaders as well.” Annamalai has dared the DMK.
Does Senthilbalaji or any other DMK leader for that matter have the guts and the gumption or atleast an inch of self-respect to declare their sources of income and assets publicly?
His Attachment To Noble Cause
Arvinth, a BJP sympathizer from the USA who is also the coordinator of BJP Tamil Nadu’s USA Chapter shared an interesting anecdote that happened when he got a chance to host Annamalai during the latter’s recent trip to the US.
Annamalai apparently wanted to buy a winter jacket and was suggested the brands of Nike, Adidas and Columbia by Arvinth as the state of Oregon is known for its employee stores where the latest models are available at discounted price.
But Annamalai was particular about getting a jacket of the Patagonia brand. He got the Patagonia jacket from California, where things are a little expensive.
When asked ‘why Patangonia?’, Annamalai revealed an interesting bit of information. Patagonia’s billianaire owner Yvon Chouinard has given away his company’s profits into saving the planet. As a token of gesture towards this cause, Annamalai wanted to purchase the Patagonia jacket no matter its cost.
Because our Thalaivar @annamalai_k is a man of principles and I’ve seen that first hand. When he was in US, he wanted to buy a winter jacket. Our state (Oregon) is known for employee stores of Nike, Columbia and Adidas where you get latest and greatest models/designs at https://t.co/QgyBXkFOPf
— Arvinth (@arvinth_e) December 18, 2022
A Working Middle-Class At Heart
Krishna Kumar Murugan, a political researcher who also closely works with Annamalai, said that Annamalai is the typical hard-working middle-class person who saves money to spend it on something they hold dear.
“Few of us who’ve known Mr. Annamalai well and have seen him from close quarters have witnessed how protective he is of his family. He and his wife don’t attend public events together, fearing overexposure and maintaining high standards of privacy. Though they do not appear in public together, attend events together, he ensures that he spends quality time with his family amidst his packed schedule.”, Krishna Kumar said.
Annamalai’s wife who did her graduation from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore went on to do her masters from IIM Bengaluru post which she began her career with JSW Steel in 2009. She was a Business Planning manager at Hewlett Packard from June 2013 up until June 2021. She Co-Founded CoRE Talent and Leadership Development and has been running it successfully.
Few of us who’ve known @annamalai_k well and have seen him from close quarters have witnessed how protective he is of his family.
He & his wife don't attend public events together, fearing overexposure and maintaining high standards of privacy. (5/7)
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) December 18, 2022
A ‘Watch’ful Protector Exposing The Atrocities Happening Under DMK’s Watch
Devoid of any issues, the Congress tried to portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi as corrupt by peddling allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal. But they failed miserably as the people of India never bought Rahul Gandhi’s claims. They may have a hundred complaints against the Modi government, but not one would question PM Modi’s honesty and integrity.
The DMK is trying to do the same with Annamalai who has had a clean career and a track record. Be it the Pongal kit scam, the Deebavali sweetbox scam, the Passport scam or the BGR Energy scam, Annamalai has been exposing the irregularities happening under the DMK’s watch. Now that the DMK has picked on Annamalai’s watch, bad time seems to have started for the DMK.
The clock is ticking!
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