 | « Back to article | Print this article |
DMK bowls Congress with A Raja googly
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has put the Manmohan Singh government in the dock with the party standing by former telecom minister A Raja who was arrested on Tuesday and making it clear that just because a person is arrested, it does not mean he is guilty.
While the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was hopeful to take advantage of a demoralised DMK, it now looks as though they will not give up without a fight and are in the mood to target the Union government even as they very much remain in alliance with the Congress and a part of the government.
A Raja, on his part, has told the court that the decision on 2G spectrum were taken by the cabinet and not by him as a minister, a move by which he has lobbed the ball in the Centre's court leaving the field wide open for speculation.
Click on NEXT to read further...
DMK bowls Congress with A Raja googly
With the assembly elections around the corner, a DMK spokesman made it clear that there is no question of removing Raja from the post of propaganda secretary of the party.
Also, there is no question of the party accepting his resignation.
He said All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha was in jail for some time but that made no difference to her and she continued to be in power.
What this effectively means is that as propaganda secretary, he would be campaigning in the assembly elections, as he is already recognised as the Dalit face of the party, having won 5 elections and during the elections he may make his position clear, an effort which may make the central government a little discomfited, say sources.
DMK bowls Congress with A Raja googly
DMK's strategy to throw its weight behind Raja a day after his arrest was unveiled at the meeting of its highest policy-making body, which slammed Opposition parties for "blowing the issue out of proportion" and said their only evidence was the CAG report.
Making his first remarks on the arrest of Raja at a public meeting, DMK chief Karunanidhi drew an analogy from the Hindu mythology comparing his party colleague to King Mahabali who he said had to suffer for the good things he did for the people, and due to upper caste people.
''Like that, Raja, a Dalit, had made available mobile telephony services at affordable cost to the poor. He is suffering for that now,'' he said.
Karunanidhi charged the opposition parties with targeting Raja and DMK because they formed the "pillar of the downtrodden or Shudras".
DMK bowls Congress with A Raja googly
The Bharatiya Janata Party has also added to the fire by claiming that Raja cannot be made a scapegoat, in keeping with their intention to move the goalposts and target the biggest fish in the government and the Congress party.
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari once again made it clear that they would continue to insist on the Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G Spectrum scam.
Sources say that the senior Congress leadership is watching the developments with interest.
There is a speculation that government may toy with an idea to bring in a resolution in the Lok Sabha declaring there should be no JPC and while the government has the numbers, they could push this through.
DMK bowls Congress with A Raja googly
But it is a different story in the Rajya Sabha where the UPA does not have the numbers. If the resolution does not go through, the government could then agree to a JPC, say sources.
It is learnt that at the moment the government is playing along in a bid to narrow down the Opposition's options while at the same time sending a mixed signal that it is partially open to the idea of a JPC if the Opposition does not agree.
The government is hopeful that if it brings in a please all budget, it would be difficult for the BJP to carry along its campaign to shut down the House and not allow issues to be discussed.
The mood of the Opposition would become clear by February 8 when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has called a meeting to discuss the impasse in Parliament and by that time, the situation regarding A Raja and the DMK would also become clearer, say party leaders.