Raja quits over spectrum scam
Nov. 14: The DMK’s Mr A. Raja finally stepped down as telecom minister on Sunday night after the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, stepped up pressure on him and ally DMK for his resignation on the alleged Rs 1.76 lakh crore scam in the 2G spectrum allocation.
After this, Mr Raja, who met the DMK chief, Mr M. Karunanidhi, in Chennai for the second time in the last 24 hours, had no option left but to quit. Mr Raja resigned shortly after returning from Chennai.
“In order to avoid embarrassment to the government and maintain peace and harmony in Parliament, my leader (Mr Karunanidhi) has advised me to resign,” Mr Raja told reporters. The DMK later said it will stay put in the UPA.
The Congress high command told the DMK leadership that it could not compromise on the issue of corruption after removing Mr Ashok Chavan as Maharashtra Chief Minis-ter in view of the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, and Mr Suresh Kalmadi as secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party on the CWG scam.
The AIADMK, meanwhile, said Mr Raja’s resignation is only the first step and that a JPC should be constituted to probe the affair. The AIADMK’s Mr Maitreyan said, “This is just the first step. Now, a JPC should be ordered.”
The Raja issue gained momentum when the AIADMK supremo, Ms Jayalalithaa, came out in support of the UPA, asking it not to worry about the numbers the DMK provided the UPA. She had also promised to muster the support of 18 MPs to support the UPA.
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