Karuna says Raja raids not a big deal
The CBI raids on A. Raja “is not a big deal”, said his DMK party chief M. Karunanidhi while seeking to downplay the investigation launched at the various premises of the former Union communication minister by the premier agency probing the 2G spectrum scam.
“The DMK believes that Raja is innocent. But if the CBI investigation proves otherwise, the party will not hesitate to take action against him without any lenience or sympathy. And till something like that happens, we will not let down Raja,” Mr Karunanidhi told reporters at his Gopalapuram residence on Wednesday.
Asked if the CBI raids were ‘embarrassing and humiliating’ for the DMK, the chief minister replied, “I do not think so. There are people who drowned in shame.” As for Ms Jayalalithaa’s charge that he was blackmailing the Congress on the Raja issue, he quipped, “ She alone has mastered the art of blackmail.”
To another question on Ms Jayalalithaa’s demand that the CBI should go beyond Mr Raja in its spectrum probe, Mr Karunanidhi retorted that the investigation agency “will get many things if they interrogates her.”
Recalling that the Supreme Court had suggested the widening of the CBI probe into spectrum since 2001, when the first-come-first-served norm was introduced, Mr Karunanidhi wondered about the response to it from the MPs now demanding JPC probe. “As for us, we are willing for a JPC investigation if that covers the allocation of spectrum from day-one,”he said. Asked to comment on the charge that Mr Raja had tried to influence Justice Regupathy in an anticipatory bail application by his friend, the chief minister first declined comment and then said, “Raja has denied that himself. I only know that much.”
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