It can hardly be any comfort for a government battling corruption charges — although it must be said that fingers have not been pointed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — to be pressured by Opposition parties to eject yet another Cabinet minister for suspected malfeasance. Not long ago communications minister A. Raja was eventually compelled to resign when allegations of corruption against him over 2G spectrum allocations no longer appeared just academic.
Even as Mr Raja languishes in judicial custody, the conduct of his DMK colleague, Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, has come under scrutiny for the period (2004-07) when he was communications minister in the UPA-1 government. While Mr Maran has denied the charges, alas flat denials no longer convince a public which has become deeply sceptical of the political class on probity issues over the years. The allegation is that Mr Maran favoured the Malaysia-based Maxis Group by awarding cheaply 14 USAL licences for Aircel, the Indian entity Maxis was encouraged to taken over, in return for Maxis investing `600 crores in Sun TV, which is owned by the Maran family.
The Opposition’s demand for Mr Maran’s resignation is on expected lines. A government in which two Cabinet ministers (Mr Raja being the first) are obliged to vacate office on corruption charges is bound to be emasculated in political and electoral terms. Only a thorough investigation can reveal the position in the context of accusations against the second DMK minister who has been brought into the ambit of suspicion. It is, therefore, too early to expect the Prime Minister to ask his textiles minister to go. However, Dr Singh needs to opt for a pro-active approach in getting his role as communications minister earlier investigated. The method of slow correspondence back and forth between different wings of the government — and tardy conduct from the PM’s office — that we saw in the Raja case simply won’t do this time. Such an approach had brought the PMO little credit in the Raja case.
The Congress Party gives the impression of shrugging off the matter as though it has nothing to do with the affair. This ostrich-like, hands-off approach is certain to rebound, for the party leads the government in which the DMK is a coalition partner. Relations between the Congress and the DMK have been somewhat strained after the arrest of Mr Raja and DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP. Even so, the Congress might have little choice but to have a candid conversation with the DMK leadership in the matter concerning Mr Maran. Indeed, it should cause no surprise if DMK factions opposed to Mr Maran actually welcome investigation of the textiles minister’s affairs, although for obvious reasons they cannot say so publicly.
A retired judge has already been asked to take a broad-sweep look into the working of the department of telecommunications since 2001 as this is the period in which policies were framed and executed to allocate spectrum, a scarce resource. This committee’s findings, with specific reference to Mr Maran’s tenure, can also be made available to the joint parliamentary committee looking into the 2G scam overall. More pointedly, the CBI should also be tasked to probe Mr Maran’s role in that ministry. This is already a subject of a public interest litigation. The government would do well to get on with it before the Supreme Court directs it to do so, and the media builds more pressure. The rules of business governing the functioning of the Union Cabinet in relation to the Prime Minister’s Office are also clearly in need of revision. In the light of the Raja affair, the Maran case, the sorry episode of the CVC’s appointment, and the near-miss involving the Antrix Corporation which comes under the PM’s direct charge, the PMO has been consistently wrong-footed. Dr Singh badly needs to assert himself.