Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Amid strong indications that he may dropped from the Union Cabinet in the next reshuffle, Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.
Maran, who is DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s nephew, is accused of misusing his position as telecom minister - between 2004 and 2007- to selectively distribute 2G spectrum licenses to telecom bidders in 2006.
He is under the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) scanner over claims made by entrepreneur C Sivasankaran, who has alleged that Maran coerced him into selling his company Aircel to Malaysian telco Maxis.
The timing of today’s meeting is important as the Prime Minister, during his interaction with editors from the print media, yesterday, had termed the impending cabinet reshuffle as a “work in progress”.
There has been persistent media speculation that there would be a rejig of the Cabinet before Parliament reconvenes for the Monsoon Session – to blunt any attack from the Opposition over the continuation of tainted Maran as a minister.
Moreover, number of ministers holding dual portfolios and Railways functioning without a Cabinet minister are also causes of concern.
Maran is the third leader of UPA’s ally DMK, who is under scrutiny after lawmaker Kanimozhi and former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja were arrested for their alleged role in the 2G scam.
