Chennai:
Putting up a brave front, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday night said Union Telecom Minister A Raja was asked to resign by DMK only to allow functioning of Parliament, maintaining that he had only followed the policy adopted from 1999 in spectrum allocation.
"We have asked Raja to resign only to allow the functioning of Parliament which we consider as the mother of democracy in India," the DMK patriarch said shortly after Raja submitted his resignation in Delhi.
The stalling of Parliamentary proceedings during the last one year was part of a pre-planned effort to get the ouster of Raja, a Dalit who had totally dedicated himself to the cause
espoused by leaders like Dr B R AMbedkar, Karunanidhi said. (
Read: Who is A Raja?)
"Raja is my affectionate brother," he said.
Earlier, a DMK release said Raja was asked to resign to allow Parliament to function so that issues of public importance could be taken up. As the opposition went all out seeking his sacking, Raja had met Karunanidhi twice since Saturday night before returning to Delhi where he handed in his resignation to the Prime Minister.
47-year old Andimuthu Raja, considered the Dalit face of DMK, has been in the firing line of opposition since last two years with the CAG's recent findings on alleged spectrum scam
providing a fresh ammunition to it to step up its offence.
Prior to departure to Delhi, Raja, who had defended all his actions, had ruled out quitting saying there was no need for it.