DMK will not replace Maran, Raja in Cabinet

Sources reveals that DMK will not replace Maran, Raja in Cabinet. The DMK has lost two ministers
in the Cabinet in eight months, but sources
say the party is not considering replacing A
Raja or Dayanidhi Maran with other
candidates for now.
Mr Raja resigned in November, he has been
accused of corruption and of engineering
India's biggest swindle, the 2G telecom
scam; Mr Maran resigned yesterday, again
on the basis of corruption charges
pertaining to his stint as Telecom minister
before Mr Raja took over the ministry from
him in 2007.
Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee is
expected to meet DMK leader M Karunanidhi
tomorrow.
After Mr Maran quit as Union Textiles
Minister yesterday in Delhi, Mr Karunanidhi
told reporters in Chennai that he had not
sent a list of candidates to replace him to
Sonia Gandhi or the Prime Minister. His
comments came amidst speculation that
senior DMK leader TR Baalu would be
inducted into the cabinet at the next
reshuffle, expected shortly.
Mr Karunanidhi is Mr Maran's grand-uncle.
Sources close to the DMK President say that
for now, his priority remains his daughter,
Kanimozhi, who is in jail along with Mr Raja
for allegedly accepting a bribe along with
him from a company that won undue
favours when Mr Raja allotted mobile
network licenses and spectrum in 2008.
Kanimozhi was taken into Tihar Jail in Delhi
in May, a day after the DMK was routed in
the Tamil Nadu state elections. Mr
Karunanidhi was voted out as Chief Minister.
The DMK fought the election with the
Congress. The dismal performance of the
alliance and the arrest of Kanimozhi by the
CBI have been strangling the partnership
that Mr Karunanidhi holds with the Congress
at the Centre. With 18 Lok Sabha MPs, his
party is a formidable partner in the
Congress-led UPA coalition.
Sources say that in end-July, the DMK will
hold an executive meeting to decide
whether to continue its alliance with the
Congress.