New Delhi: As Opposition stalled Parliament for the second consecutive day on Thursday over A Raja's continuance in the Cabinet, party MP Kanimozhi met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and is understood to have told him that the Telecom Minister should not be removed.
Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, met Mukherjee in Parliament and is believed to have explained the party's position on the issue.
She is understood to have told him that Raja should not be removed from the Cabinet.
The DMK came out strongly in support of Raja and asked why should the Telecom Minister step down.
“Why should he step down? Whatever he did was according to TRAI norms," party spokesman T K S Elangovan said.
Sources indicated that with opposition parties like BJP and AIADMK forcing the adjournment of Parliament for second consecutive day on Thursday, Karunanidhi may talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and broach the topic on Saturday once he returns from Seoul after attending the G20 Summit.
The Prime Minister will take the decision on the tainted minister after a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the weekend.
Sources have said the Prime Minister may request DMK leader Karunanidhi to replace Raja with another DMK MP.
Congress is under pressure after CNN-IBN exposed the CAG report that has indicted Raja. The expose has led to repeated parliament adjournments.
"Whatever the Minister did was based on the norms set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Let the CBI inquiry into the issue end first," Elangovan said.
"No way," asserted a senior DMK leader when asked whether Raja will go in the wake of allegations against him.
The sources said it would be a loss of face for the party if Raja stepped down at this stage. "It will be amounting to admitting guilt," the source said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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