Opposition guns for Maran, DMK stands by him

CHENNAI/THOOTHUKUDI: Amid increasing voices seeki­ng the resignation of Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran over alleged irregularities during his tenure as Telecom Minister, the DMK on Thursday came out in his support and flayed Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for asking the Prime Minister to sack him.In a statement here, Pon Muthuramalingam and K S Radhakrishnan, advocates belonging to the DMK, said Jayalalithaa had no locus standi to demand the resignation of Maran based on allegations, as she herself was facing legal proceedings in the disproportionate assets case. “Jayalalithaa has not quit as Chief Minister to face this case. But she is demanding the resignation of Dayanidhi Maran. The people of Tamil Nadu can understand the contradiction in Jayalalithaa’s demand,” their statement read.The lawyers said it would not be proper on the Chief Minister’s part to make such demands, forgetting the fact that she herself was facing corruption charges. On June 1, Jayalalithaa demanded the resignation of Maran and said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should ask Maran to put in his papers.Echoing the AIADMK supremo’s words, Puthiya Tamizhagam founder-leader Krishnasamy said in Thoothukudi on Friday that Maran should resign from his post and prove his innocence in the face of the corruption charges.Krishnasamy said though former Telecom Minister A Raja is said to be the man be­hind the 2G scam, it was Ma­ran and Co who committed the original sin. Maran and the Sun Network—in which he is said to have stock—are said to have benefited from kickbacks paid by a Malaysian company in return for spectrum allocation in its favour during his tenure as Telecom minister. Sun TV guards warn tv Crew Security guards at the Murasoli Maran towers, which houses the Sun TV network at Patinapakkam, manhandled a TV correspondent and a cameraman of a private TV channel, when they tried to shoot the Sun TV tower here on Thursday.The crew had gone there to shoot visuals of the towers in connection with reports on Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran’s alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam. However, the security guards prevented them and threatened to snatch the camera. However, no complaint was lodged in this regard.