Jaya urges PM to drop Maran from the Cabinet

Chennai, Apr 27 : AIADMK General Secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drop Union Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran from the Cabinet in the wake of reports that he threatened the Tata Group to surrender 33 per cent share of its DTH project to Sun TV.

In a hard-hitting statement here, she said the latest investigative report in a section of the press about Mr Maran ''brazenly trying to arm-twist the Tatas, one of the most upright and ethical industrial groups in India, into parting with their DTH business had ripped the mask off one of the most sinister, unethical, diabolic bids at industrial empire building ever known.'' ''Mr Maran, by misusing his office and his inordinate influence over the patchwork coalition Government at the Centre, has made a brazen bid to blackmail his way into acquiring a controlling stake in the DTH business,'' she charged.

He had thus shown himself to be unfit to hold the post of a Union Minister and was a disgrace to the entire nation, Ms Jayalalithaa said.

''In what is a naked display of power and greed, Mr Maran has tried to acquire a 33 per cent share in the Tata-Star DTH management rights at par not paying the market value. What is even more scandalous, he has threatened the Tata Group with dire consequences regarding their telecom project, unless they agreed to surrender the 33 per cent share demanded by the Sun TV Group,'' she added.

UNI