‘Arrest me if you have proof’: BJP's Annamalai to DMK on Rs 100 cr defamation notice

Claiming that he is not worth crores of rupees so as to be served legal notice by the ruling DMK, BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai on Tuesday, March 29, said he would not be cowed down by such threats as his aim is to serve the people. Reacting to the DMK's demand for an unconditional public apology for his remarks on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's Dubai trip, Annamalai said he had received the legal noticed served to him by DMK's organising secretary R S Bharathi through the senior advocate P Wilson, on Tuesday morning at Kamalalayam, BJP state headquarters in Chennai.

"I have also received a notice even from BGR energy. Including Rs 100 crore (damages) demanded by DMK's organising secretary, I have received notices for over Rs 600 crore. I am not worth that much...I have (few) cows and goats in my village. You can take them," Annamalai said.

Speaking to reporters, he also told Bharathi to have him arrested for allegedly claiming he had blackmailed former AIADMK ministers. "I will be here in the office. Arrest me if you have proof, failing which people will realise that this is another of your lie," he said.

Unlike many DMK leaders, he chose the BJP only to "help the people, to serve them," and was ready to face thousands of such notices. Once his tenure as BJP state president ended, he would return to his Thottampatti village and resume farming, Annamalai said.

"To me, politics is only a means to serve the people and I did not join the BJP aspiring to become the Chief Minister," he added. (PTI)