Under the guise of attacking the Tamil Nadu ruling DMK, BJP Tamil Nadu chief Annamalai has come up with a new story about his 'Rafale' watch and his political life. As per his announcement, Annamalai has held a press conference on Friday at the state BJP headquarters in Chennai to release the corruption list of the DMK leaders.

On Thursday, he released the teaser of what he titled 'DMK Files' and he vowed that he would expose the corruptions committed by the DMK high command and senior leaders. Annamalai began addressing the press conference at around 10.15 am on Friday - April 14 and he was seen wearing a badge with a picture of Dr Ambedkar as the nation observes Ambedkar Jayanti today. 

In the midst of releasing the first episode of the DMK Files, Annamalai broke his silence on his 'Rafale' watch by offering a new story and providing its invoice. Annamalai has been surfaced with intense attacks from the DMK over his luxurious watch that was made from the parts of Rafale aircraft. Last December, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji said that Annamalai wears a watch that costs Rs 5 lakh. 

Taking to Twitter, Senthil Balaji wrote, "A man who claims to have only four goats wears this watch! Can he share the receipt of the watch?." The minister has also questioned Annamalai's nationalism as he claimed that the watch was made by a French manufacturer. Reacting to Senthil Balaji's allegation, Annamalai defended his stand and said that the watch cost him Rs 3.5 lakh. 

Last December, Annamalai said, "This watch will be with me until I die. This is a collector's edition. Who else can buy except us Indians? For our nation, this watch was made using parts from Rafale aircraft by Dassault. Only after Rafale entered, the rules of war changed, increasing India's reach substantially." "I did not get an opportunity to fly the Rafale aircraft so as a nationalist, I am wearing the watch", Annamalai added.

It was reported that this special edition of Rafale watches from Swiss watch manufacturer 'Bell & Ross' was made in a single batch of 500 and Annamalai had the 147th piece of the series. Though Annamalai was asked to produce the invoice for the watch, there was no immediate reaction from him and later, he said that he will furnish the details about the Rafale watch in April and that he will also release all the details of wealth owned by Chief Minister MK Stalin and his family members as well as senior DMK Ministers. 

As he announced, Annamalai has broken his silence on his Rafale watch in a press conference on Friday - April 14 amidst releasing the corruption list of DMK. While addressing the reporters, Annamalai said that he bought the Rafale watch from his friend Cheralathan Ramakrishnan, who is based in Kerala. Though the debate over his watch has been brewing, it is the first time that Annamalai has come up with a name of a person from whom he bought the watch. 

Providing the invoice for the watch in the press conference, Annamalai has claimed that Ramakrishnan has bought the Rafale watch in March 2021 and he bought the same from him in May 2021. Displaying what he claimed as an invoice, Annamalai said he bought the watch from Ramakrishnan for Rs 3 lakhs on May 27, 2021. Annamalai's statement and invoice have sparked a fresh debate over his intention not to disclose these details when the issue actually arose. 

Annamalai is facing questions on why he was silent for several months about the issue. Besides this watch story, Annamalai has also divulged about his political life. Addressing the press conference, Annamalai said that his house rent charges are being paid by his friends. In a first-of-its-kind statement, Annamalai went on to say that even the petrol expenses for his car and the salary for his staff are also paid by his friends. His statement has come when he was slammed for his close proximity with one of the directors of Aarudhra Gold Private Limited, which has been accused of swindling thousands of crores from common people. 

Harish, one of Aarudhra's directors who joined BJP in the presence of Annamalai, is one of the accused in the scam that's being probed by the Economic Offences Wing. The wing has also summoned two BJP functionaries for inquiry in the scam case. Annamalai's remarks that most of his expenses are incurred by his friends have come a day after the protests against Aarudhra Gold before the BJP office in Chennai. 

In the press conference, Annamalai released the 'DMK Files' video amidst applause from the BJP functionaries. The first part of the video had allegedly shown the irregularities and inconsistencies in the assets and properties of DMK leaders - Jagatratchagan, EV Velu, Kanimozhi, KN Nehru, Kalanidhi Maran, TR Baalu, Kalanithi Veerasamy, Durai Murugan, Kathir Anand, and K Ponmudy. The video had also showcased the luxurious vehicles used by MK Stalin's family and their prices. 

Following the screening, Annamalai had thrown four questions to DMK and asked about the source of income for Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Movies to produce movies worth Rs 300 crores during the DMK's rule between 2006-11. He asked about the ties of MK Stalin's son-in-law Sabareesan with one of St George's bank's (Annamalai has claimed that this bank facilitates money laundering) directors Srinivas Venkatesh in UK. He further asked to MK Stalin on signing an Memorandum of Understanding with the Noble conglomerate where Annamalai had said that ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi were used to be the directors. 

Annamalai went on to levy a corruption charge on CM Stalin, asking why was custom duty included as an addendum with the tender of Metro Phase 1 when EXIM (Export-Import Bank of India) was clear that custom duty cannot be levied on tender process. Annamalai claimed that the then DMK government favoured US-based company 'Alstom' in return for bribe for the party's election campaigning in 2011. Annamalai said that he will release the corruption lists in four parts and he will launch a yatra in Tamil Nadu this July under the name of 'En Mann En Makkal' (My soil, my people) against corruption.