UPA-DMK alliance stays despite Raja, says PM

On Board PM's Special Aircraft: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it was for the Congress high command to "take note" of the offer of support made by AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa in return for the sacking of Telecom Minister A Raja but added "as of now" the alliance with DMK stands.

"This is a subject I am hearing for the first time. It is for the Congress high command to take note of it. I don't know what Dr Jayalalithaa has offered. We are in alliance with DMK and that alliance stands as of now", Singh told reporters accompanying him on his return from Seoul where he attended the G-20 Summit.

Earlier, when asked what he was planning to do about Raja after the CAG report on 2G Spectrum allocation and the alleged role of the Telecom Minister, the Prime Minister said, "Parliament is in session. It is not proper for me to comment on a subject which is also probably in the court".

Unfazed by the political storm over 2G spectrum allocation, the government and DMK chief M Karunanidhi today came out in support of embattled Telecom Minister A Raja who defiantly ruled out his resignation.

As Congress remained in a fix over dealing with the issue in the face of growing clamour for Raja's removal from the Union Cabinet, Karunanidhi insisted that the Telecom Minister had done no wrong and there was no question of his quitting.

"He (Raja) is not a criminal. We are not guilty. He just went by the procedures set by his predecessors Pramod Mahajan and Arun Shourie of the previous NDA Government. What is wrong in that? They came up with 'first come, first served' policy," the DMK chief told reporters in Chennai.

Parliament has been rocked over the last few days on the 2G Spectrum allocation controversy with a combative opposition demanding Raja's dismissal.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily also came out in Raja's defence, saying the CAG report on the Spectrum allocation cannot be termed as an "indictment".

Options before PM:

Seek Raja's resignation: If statements of Raja, Veerappa Moily and Karunanidhi are to go by, this may not happen

The Prime MInister can ask Karunanidhi to replace Raja with another DMK MP

The government can wait for a direction from the Supreme Court

The government can try and blunt the attack by tabling the CAG report already exposed on CNN IBN in Parliament

It can also choose to act once the Public Accounts Committee submits its report

(With inputs from PTI)