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2G scam: Sack Maran, Jayalalithaa tells PM

With Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran coming under the Central Bureau of Investigation's scanner in the 2G scam, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday demanded that he should be dropped from the Union Cabinet immediately.

Jayalalithaa also said the CBI action of accusing him of forcing a Chennai-based telecom promoter to sell stakes to a Malaysian firm has been "long overdue".

'It is high time the PM dropped Maran'

"There is no point in expecting Dayanidhi Maran to take moral responsibility and resign. It is high time the prime minister dropped him from the Union Council of Ministers," she told reporters after a meeting with Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

She was responding to a query on whether she expected Maran to own moral responsibility and resign after the CBI named him in its status report in the 2G spectrum scam.

CBI charges were 'long overdue'

"It was high time that the CBI took such a step. It was long overdue. I am happy that they have done it now," she said in response to queries on Maran being named in the CBI report.

Jayalalithaa has been demanding Maran's resignation from the Union Cabinet ever since allegations surfaced about him receiving pay-offs in allotting spectrum to Aircel during his tenure as telecom minister between 2004 and 2007.

Maran under CBI scanner

The agency in its report said that Maran has come under its scanner in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

In its 71-page fresh status report about the scam, the CBI said that during 2004-07, when Maran was the telecom minister, a Chennai base telecom promoter (Sivasankaran) was forced to sell its stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm.