New Delhi:
With Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran resigning Thursday, opposition parties demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explain how he remained in the Cabinet for so long despite allegations of involvement in the 2G scam.
"This is no great news, we are only concerned why did the prime minister had to wait so long (to take action against him)?" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
"Why does the prime minister always condone the actions and allow tainted people to continue in the Cabinet? This indicates there is a lethargic attitude on the part of the prime minister. It is as if he is saying, 'Look 7 Race Course Road falls in way to Tihar Jail, so if you are going there, or there is a chargesheet, come and have a cup of coffee with me and then submit your resignation and go to Tihar Jail,'" he said.
"If this is the attitude of the prime minister, as was in case of A. Raja, it is a huge disgrace for the country," Rudy said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja said the resignation had come in too late.
"He should have resigned long back as the allegations were so tenable. It is for the prime minister to answer why a person with such serious allegations against him should be in the council of ministers," he said.
The CPI member said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had lost its credibility.
"The UPA-2 has lost its credibility with repeatedly ministers being involved in corruption cases. The prime minister owes an explanation to the nation," Raja added.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat said the series of graft charges against ministers was shameful.
"There are so many cases in which UPA government, Congress members and its partners are involved. I think it is a shame for the whole country," she said.
Maran submitted his resignation to the prime minister Thursday, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its report to the Supreme Court, alleged that as the communication minister from 2004-07, he sat on the licence applications of Aircel till promoter C. Sivasankaran agreed to sell it to Malaysia-based Maxis group.
Maxis allegedly bought 74 per cent stake in Aircel and the company was later allotted more telecom circles to operate in.
Maxis Communication, through its subsidiary Astro, then allegedly invested around Rs.600 crore in Sun DTH belonging to the Sun TV Network, owned by Maran's family.