Jayalalithaa demands Raja’s dismissal

AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Wednesday demanded the dismissal of Union IT and Telecom Minister A. Raja over the alleged multi-crore 2G spectrum telephony scam.

In a statement here, she said CBI official, Vineet Agarwal, who had investigated the case but was subsequently transferred, should be brought back to continue the probe.

The CBI inquiry into the spectrum scam was necessitated following “a serious indictment” by the Central Vigilance Commission, she said.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had, in its report too, concluded that the faulty procedures adopted by Mr. Raja in the sale of 2G spectrum had caused a loss of at least Rs. 26,000 crore to the government, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.

The Delhi High Court, hearing a case relating to the sale of 2G spectrum had observed the first-cum-first—served procedure adopted by Raja was akin to the “sale of cinema tickets”, she said.

Mr. Raja had openly flouted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s written directions to take the PM’s clearance before embarking on the sale of 2G spectrum, she alleged.

In spite of so much “damning evidence” Raja was not only allowed to continue in office but also the CBI officer probing the case had been transferred, the AIADMK chief said.

The Congress chose to sacrifice Shashi Tharoor in the IPL controversy, which was a private issue, but when it came to Mr. Raja, who had been accused of causing enormous loss to the government, he was allowed to continue, she added.

Jayalalithaa leaves for Delhi to take part in EC’s jubilee celebration

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Sunday declined to comment on reports that she would be meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi during her visit to Delhi to take part in the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission.

“I do not want to comment on the reports,” she told reporters before emplaning for Delhi.

There was a huge crowd of AIADMK workers at the airport to see her off and party headquarters secretary Sulochana Sampath fainted during the melee.

Police had made tight security arrangements and several media personnel were prevented from meeting Ms. Jayalalithaa even though she was prepared to talk to them. Only a few managed to talk to her.