[Uttephabeta]

The government, faced with rising corruption charges, is now examining the possibility of dropping controversial ministers, including Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, in the next Cabinet reshuffle. Pressure is mounting on both the Congress high command and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to “drop ministers being accused of corruption charges”.
The Maran camp, however, claimed the minister was “in no mood to put in his papers and is relaxed”. He also plans to attend the regular Cabinet meeting on Thursday, sources said.

The DMK minister suffered another blow on Wednesday with an NGO moving the Supreme Court against him. The NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), sought permission from the court to place before it documents

showing Mr Maran’s alleged role in favouring the Maxis Group of Malaysia.
The CBI has also begun looking at the entire deal, though officially it has not yet started any inquiry against Mr Maran.

A majority of Congress leaders are in favour of Mr Maran being dropped from the Union Cabinet. They feel that the government, which faces a slew of corruption charges and a series of anti-corruption protests, “simply cannot

afford to retain any controversial ministers in the Cabinet”.
They strongly feel that Mr Maran “should be removed before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins in July as it could be difficult for the government to defend him against Opposition attacks”.

The minister in the centre of the storm, meanwhile, strongly refuted allegations that his official decisions as communications minister had indirectly benefited his brother Kalanidhi Maran’s Sun TV network. In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Mr Maran claimed he had “not favoured any company”.

Denying that he was partial towards any company while awarding telecom licences, Mr Maran said the allegation was “totally untrue and malicious”.

Justifying his actions as communications minister in UPA-1, Mr Maran referred to the CAG’s report.

Dc Chennai