On Board PM's Special Aircraft:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has returned to India from the G-20 summit in South Korea, in the midst of the raging controversy over Telecom Minister A Raja's role in the 2G spectrum scam.
At a press briefing on board Air India One, the Prime Minister was asked what he was planning to do about Raja, to which he responded, "Parliament is in session. It is not proper for me to comment on a subject which is also probably in the court."
Speaking on AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa's offer of support to the UPA government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "This is a subject I am hearing for the first time. It is for the Congress high command to take note of it. I don't know what Dr Jayalalithaa has offered."
The Prime Minister, however, added, "We are in alliance with DMK and that alliance stands as of now."
Earlier, when asked what he was planning to do about Raja after the CAG report on 2G Spectrum allocation and the alleged role of the Telecom Minister, the Prime Minister said,
Unfazed by the political storm over 2G spectrum allocation, the government and DMK chief M Karunanidhi has came out in support of embattled Telecom Minister A Raja who defiantly ruled out his resignation.
As Congress remained in a fix over dealing with the issue in the face of growing clamour for Raja's removal from the Union Cabinet, Karunanidhi insisted that the Telecom Minister had done no wrong and there was no question of his quitting.
"He (Raja) is not a criminal. We are not guilty. He just went by the procedures set by his predecessors Pramod Mahajan and Arun Shourie of the previous NDA Government. What is wrong in that? They came up with 'first come, first served' policy," the DMK chief told reporters in Chennai.
Parliament has been rocked over the last few days on the 2G Spectrum allocation controversy with a combative Opposition demanding Raja's dismissal.
Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily also came out in Raja's defence, saying the CAG report on the Spectrum allocation cannot be termed as an "indictment".