In the face of onslaught, DMK stands by its Raja

Shrill demands by the opposition parties and their repeated adjournments in parliament, and the fervent pleas by the ruling coalition have, so far, have made little headway, so far.

According to sources, Karunanidhi is reluctant to take any action against Raja as he is projected as the Dalit face of the party in New Delhi. Moreover, the common belief in Tamil Nadu is that it is virtually impossible that the massive largess that Raja is alleged to have earned through the 2G spectrum scam was not shared with others.

But following J Jayalalithaa offer on a private TV channel that her 18 members in the Lok Sabha will support the UPA in lieu of the DMK’s 18 MP, Congress sources now believe Raja’s days are numbered.

“It is now sure that Raja will go, it is just a question of time and whether he will resign on his own or the Congress will ask him to leave,” said a Congress source.

The fear in the Congress is that the prime minister’s office had cleared a few files in good faith — a fact Raja has been iterating time and again. “If these were taken away by the CBI when they raided Raja’s office, there is little to worry,” said the source, “But the worry is that there may copies of those files.

Raja was born on May 10, 1963, in Velur village, Perambalur district, to Andimuthu and Chinnapillai. He represents the reserved Niligiri constituency.

A master of law from Government Law College, Trichy, Raja first became a minister in 1999 when he was made union minister of state for rural development. He subsequently became union minister of state for health and family welfare.

Raja took over the telecom portfolio on May 18, 2007, after his predecessor, Dayanidhi Maran, also from the DMK, fell out with his granduncle Karunanidhi.

Maran was stripped of the ministry after his newspaper, Dinakaran, published a survey that said that of Karunanidhi’s two sons, MK Stalin was more popular that MK Alagiri. The latter’s supporters allegedly attacked and burned down the Dinakaran office in Madurai, killing three staff members.

The Marans later patched up with Karunanidhi and Dayanidhi was given the textile portfolio, which he holds.

After the UPA returned to power, many believe that Raja would not be made a minister given the outcry over the 2G spectrum scam. But Karunanidhi was adamant that Raja be reinstated in the cabinet and with the same portfolio again.

Known to be close to Karunanidhi’s family, Raja is married to MA Parameswari and has one daughter.