Congress set to hang up on Raja, press DMK chief for his ouster-Nov 12, 2010,

Congress set to hang up on Raja, press DMK chief for his ouster

TNN, Nov 12, 2010, 01.45am IST

PM to take final call on A Raja's ouster

NEW DELHI: Telecom minister A Raja has weathered one storm after another, thanks to the unwavering support of his DMK boss and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi - but now, the wind's really blowing against him.

The stage appears set for his exit. With no let-up in the opposition's campaign for Raja's ouster for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam, the Congress on Thursday was planning to approach Karunanidhi to consider replacing the controversial minister with another nominee.

Congress sources said a senior representative of the party was expected to take up the matter in the next 24 hours. Karunanidhi has so far resisted the suggestion to replace Raja, citing the assembly polls scheduled for April 2011.

The sensitivity to Karunanidhi's wishes has now given way to concern among Congress managers that Raja's continuance will bruise the party's image and undo the repair job Sonia Gandhi undertook by axing tainted leaders Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi.

The concern has increased following the final report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which has been scathing about Raja's role in the 2G spectrum allocation. As reported by The Times of India first, in its edition of November 10, CAG has claimed that Raja's decisions resulted in revenue losses that could be as high as Rs 1.77 lakh crore.

Meantime, the Opposition continued with its unrelenting attack on Raja and did not let the Parliament run even on Thursday, demanding the minister's removal. Although the two Houses will be shut for Chhath on Friday, government managers are girding up for the next hearing of the Supreme Court on the spectrum case on Monday. At the last hearing on October 29, the Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly had frowned on the telecom minister's continuance, leaving the government red-faced.

Congress sources are apprehensive of the possibility that the Bench, which is hearing a PIL alleging that the government was reluctant to punish those responsible for the scam, might make adverse observations yet again.

The anxiety, along with the aggression of the Opposition, is goading Congress to make a fresh effort to get DMK to drop Raja. "He has become a liability and a political drag," a senior party leader said.

As it prepares to talk with DMK, Congress is being helped by the fact that DMK no longer has the leverage it had in 2004 when it helped UPA score a stunning upset over fancied NDA. The Karunanidhi government in Chennai is dependent on the 36 members Congress has in the assembly.

More importantly, the process of Congress's steady diminution in the state since 1967 has been arrested, helping it to play, along with regional outfits like PMK and actor Vijaykanth, the balancing factor between the two Dravidian rivals, DMK and AIADMK.

This is one of the reasons why Congress leaders feel that the DMK may not retaliate against Raja's ouster by pulling out of the ruling coalition. In any case, Jayalalitha and JD(S)'s offer of support indicates the coalition's capability of pulling in the requisite numbers from other sources.