The arrested former Telecom Minister A Rja reportedly offered to resign as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam?s Propaganda Secretary as the party?s general council meeting began in Chennai today.
Media reports quoted party sources as saying that the DMK appeared to separate itself from the tainted former minister in view of the coming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and rival All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s criticism of alleged corrupt practices in the DMK government in the state.
DMK sources said Raja has offered to quit the post in anticipation of a harsh political move against him at the party meeting.
DMK’s president and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi is presiding over the meeting,which is expected to redraw the party?s strategy with the alliance partners keeping in mind the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Other top notch leaders of the party, including Union Fertiliser Minister M.K. Alagiri and Deputy chief minister M.K. Stalin, Kanimozhi, MP and party General Secretary K. Anbazhagan are attending the meeting.
Elections are few months away in Tamil Nadu, and the DMK has affirmed its alliance with the Congress to keep at bay the AIDMK, headed by former chief minister Jayalalitha.
In Chennai, J Jayalalithaa said her party will continue to insist that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is set up to investigate the 2G scam.
She said the arrest of Raja was not enough to expose corruption.
Raja is accused of criminal conspiracy and using his office as Telecom Minister to benefit a few telecom operators when 2G spectrum licences were being allocated in 2008 for mobile network.
The DMK had stood firmly by Raja, a popular Dalit leader and a close confidant of Karunanidhi?s daughter Kanimozhi until the time of his arrest.
Now the party is likely to suspend the former union minister following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In January, Karunanidhi’s son, MK Alagiri, had demanded that Raja be sacked from the post of the party?s “Propaganda Secretary.”