Besieged Union Telecom Minister A. Raja was on Friday forced to take refuge behind DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi's assertions that he was not guilty after the Opposition gunned for his resignation in Parliament.
It took an offer from AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa to the UPA to rattle Karunanidhi and compel him to break his silence over L'affaire Raja, who has been implicated by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for causing the nation a loss of nearly Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the 2G spectrum allotment process.
"Raja is not guilty," the DMK patriarch pronounced in Chennai.
But it may not be so easy for the DMK, which has been defying calls for Raja's resignation from even within the UPA government. Soon after his return late last night from the G-20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said without being too definitive, "We are in an alliance with the DMK, and that stands as of now. The Congress high command will take note of Jayalalithaa's offer."
The DMK, however, feels that easing out the Dalit poster boy from the cabinet at this juncture -- the state Assembly elections are expected to be held in April 2011 -- would be as good as capitulating to Jayalalithaa's charges. Karunanidhi ruled out any further discussions with the Congress and bluntly claimed that all that his nominee did was right. But this could be a double-edged sword as Raja's refusal to quit gives the AIADMK a strong campaign issue on a platter.
Unmindful of that, Karunanidhi launched into a tirade against the Opposition saying the NDA government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was not above board. "Tenders were not called for either by Pramod Mahajan or by Arun Shourie when they were telecom ministers," he said. "The same procedure followed by them has been adhered to in the 2G spectrum allotment as well. The first-come-first-served basis has been the practice and no one has been given the allocation in an unfair manner."
This put Congressmen who were earlier gunning for the telecom minister's head in a spot. On Friday, some Congress leaders defended the embattled Raja by taking the same line as DMK and attacking the BJP. They also fear that a tainted DMK could be better than an untrustworthy Jayalalithaa who has, in the past, pulled the rug under Central governments. Besides, the party fears that if Raja goes, he might take down some Congressmen with him.
Law minister M. Veerappa Moily said the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation cannot be termed as an indictment of Raja. Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said, "The matter is subjudice and the CAG report is yet to be tabled in the House." He also said that the Congress has told Jayalalithaa that there are no vacancies in the UPA. "We have closed the door," he said.
Moily said once the report is tabled in Parliament, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would select a particular paragraph in the report for discussion and then it becomes the right of a particular ministry to reply. At present the PAC is headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. "You cannot call it an indictment," Moily said. "It is not a final report." He added that while the CAG report carries weight, he said he does not remember any minister stepping down following an adverse CAG report.
One Congress general secretary said the BJP should first allow a discussion in the House. "Why are they shying away from discussion," he asked. "Raja can be hanged if he is guilty, but wait for the Supreme Court hearing on Monday." Later, party sources said the BJP may shy away from discussion on the 2G spectrum allotment scam fearing its own leaders -- specifically Shourie and the late Mahajan -- may be dragged into it.
Both the Congress and the UPA government may explore options such as ordering a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the scam, a consistent demand of the Opposition.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Karunanidhi was dismissive of the CAG's findings. "The CAG report is not the final word on the issue," he said. "The CAG can criticise anyone. We can tender an opinion only after the report has come out in full," he said.
Despite the DMK bravado, party sources in Chennai asserted that Jayalalithaa's offer of support has rattled the DMK top brass. In public, though, Karunanidhi remained defiant, saying that the "Congress itself has said that that its doors are shut for Jayalalithaa." But that did not deter the AIADMK which reiterated its support to the Congress in the scenario where DMK pulls out of the UPA and puts the coalition government in peril. "Our offer of support stands. Now, it is up to the Congress," said Dr V. Maitreyan, an AIADMK MP. Political commentator and saffron ideologue Cho Ramaswamy said the Congress may be playing a deeper game in this case. "It is not only Raja or the DMK alone, but also someone else who is being protected. That is the reason the Congress is unwilling to act and has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying Raja is not to be blamed," he said.
Sources said the Congress has not given up hope that, eventually, the DMK boss would come around and continue to support the UPA even after he agrees to Raja's sacking. "Our party wants to maintain its high moral pedestal after sacking tainted party leaders such as Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi recently," a Congress leader said.
The Congress brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee (who met with Kanimozhi on Thursday), home minister P. Chidambaram, defence minister A. K. Antony and Ahmed Patel, Gandhi's political secretary, is expected to meet on Saturday to discuss the 2G controversy.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/119791/LATEST%20HEADLINES/raja-ducks-behind-karunanidhi.html
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