24 December,2010 07:50 AM IST | | B V Shiva Shankar
Fearing that they may be grilled over their ties with the tainted former minister, Karunanidhi family has asked A Raja not to contact them
With the CBI and enforcement directorate (ED) set to question former telecom minister A Raja in connection with the 2G scam today, the Karunanidhi family has cut off all communication with the tainted DMK member. This, sources say, has been done to avoid investigating agencies.
No attention: Karunanidhi family has cut off all communication with the
tainted DMK member A Raja,u00a0 fearing that any communication with Raja
could be held against them. File pic
Raja is known to be close to Karunanidhi's family, especially to Kanimolzhi, a union minister and the daughter of the chief minister from his third wife Raasathiamma. Sources said the family feared that any communication with Raja could be held against them, and he has been instructed not to contact anyone, not even on the phone.
Raja has been trying to contact Karunanidhi for the past one week, but the latter seems to have given him the cold shoulder. Raja then left for Delhi on Wednesday to face the investigating agencies.
Though most of the party members have distanced themselves from him, MP TKS Elangovan was on the flight to Delhi with Raja.
"Although the party members are called upon by the chief minister to back Raja in public, they have been asked to keep their distance from him," said a DMK leader.
Raja got a notice from the CBI, along with Neera Radia, a corporate lobbyist, on Monday, summoning her to appear for questioning. While Radia was interrogated on Tuesday, questioning of Raja was postponed in the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi's Chennai visit on Wednesday and Thursday.
While Dayanidhi Maran, former Telecom Minister and DMK leader, is close to Karunanidhi's second wife Dyaluamma, since he is a close relative, Raasthiamma chose Raja to be telecom minister in the second tenure of the UPA government. Kanimoulzhi allegedly lobbied for Raja with the help of Radia, and the deal is a part of the investigation.
A source in the DMK said the rivalry between Dayaluamma and Raasathiamma was one of the causes of the 2G drama. "The family members are scared about Raja revealing their names during the interrogation and they have instructed him not to speak about them," said the source. As a deal, the family members are understood to have given an assurance of political backing to Raja. But at the same time, threatening him of suspending from the party if he tries to damage their reputation.
"The party is prepared for the eventualities, and Raja is likely to be suspended from the party in case CBI arrests him following the interrogation," said the source.
Subranian Swamy, who had petition in the Supreme Court regarding the scam, said, "That is why I had suggested arresting him and giving him security. There are many big names involved in the scam and I suspect even his life is under threat."
u00a0
Inputs from Ramesh Kanteerava in Chennai
