The Hindu Business Line : DMK wants Maran dropped from Cabinet

At the party's administrative committee meeting today, members adopted a resolution urging the party President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, and General Secretary and Finance Minister, Mr K. Anbazhagan, to take steps for removal of Mr Maran as Cabinet Minister.

According to a copy of the resolution circulated to the press, the committee said that Mr Maran's recent activities have affected party discipline and reputation.

The committee also resolved to let Mr Karunanidhi seek an explanation from Mr Maran regarding his role in the DMK and his primary membership in the party before deciding on further course of action.

The meeting began at 6 p.m. and went on for over two hours at the party headquarters.

The decision comes four days after violence at the offices of the Dinakaran newspaper and the Sun TV network offices in Madurai following the publication of the results of a survey on the political heir to Mr Karunanidhi.

Three employees were killed in the violence.

The State Government has asked for a CBI investigation into the events.

Speculation was rife within political circles about Mr Maran's continuation in the Union Cabinet after Mr Karunanidhi made a statement in the Assembly a day after the violence, to the effect that the newspaper had gone ahead with publishing the survey findings even after he had requested it not to do so.

The violence was believed to have been unleashed by the supporters of Mr M.K. Azhagiri, son of the Chief Minister.

Thomas K. Thomas adds from New Delhi: The imminent exit of Mr Maran has evoked mixed responses from the telecom industry.

While the GSM camp said that the developments were unfortunate, the CDMA camp said that Mr Maran had got a number of policy issues wrong.

While no operator wanted to comment officially, CDMA sources said that the Minister was leaning towards the GSM operators' interests.

They also said that none of his policy decisions took the industry forward.

These include delay in getting spectrum for mobile operators, subscriber-linked policy favouring the GSM operators and a proposal to allow foreign players in the 3G space.

Mr Maran has also been criticised for pushing Wi-Max technology over 3G technologies. On the other hand, GSM operators said that Mr Maran was responsible for the booming growth in cellular segment.

They also said that under Mr Maran, India was being seen as a hub for manufacturing telecom gear.

The semiconductor policy, the broadband policy and lowering of entry fee for long-distance operators were some of the high points during his stint.

MNCs said that Mr Maran was doing a good job for the sector. Backing of the Vodafone deal and increase in the FDI cap to 74 per cent were the two key initiatives for which the foreign players thank Mr Maran.

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