Indian minister resigns over fresh graft claims

A second Indian cabinet member resigned on Thursday over allegations of corruption within government, dealing another blow to embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran stepped down after being named in a police court report that suggested he abused his powers in the 2006 sale of second-generation (2G) mobile phone licences when he was the telecom minister. Maran's departure is the latest setback for Singh, whose upright image has suffered as a series of graft scandals have buffeted his administration over the last year. A police report lodged with the Supreme Court on Wednesday alleged that Maran had forced C. Sivasankaran, the founder of the Aircel telecom group, to sell his stake in his group to another company close to the Maran family. Maran tendered his resignation during a meeting with Singh after talks between the Congress party, which leads the government, and Maran's regional DMK party, a key part of the ruling coalition. Maran, 44, is the second DMK minister to quit the government after his successor at the telecoms ministry, A. Raja, resigned last year over the alleged fraudulent sale of new 2G telecom spectrum in 2008. Raja is in custody awaiting trial along with several top government officials, business executives and the daughter of DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. India's Supreme Court is overseeing police probes into the so-called 2G scam, which the national auditor said may have cost the treasury up to $40 billion in lost revenue due to cut-price deals with selected telecom firms. "Maran was at the centre of the graft storm, so the prime minister must hope that this resignation can be a fresh start," said Mahesh Rangarajan, an analyst at the Delhi-based Centre of Developing Societies. "It has been a rocky path for Singh and his credibility has been under threat. Now he needs to show his government has distanced itself from the cause of these troubles." Police have said that they plan to make further arrests over the 2G sale but have not charged Maran with any offence. "We are yet to register a case against him because we are still trying to verify the allegations and after that we will seek explanations from him," CBI spokeswoman Dharini Mishra told AFP. The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) party, which is based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, said Maran would now fight to clear his name. "It is good for him that he has resigned because now he can boldly face these accusations," party spokesman T.K.S. Elangovan said from Chennai. "We feel that that the police have not questioned him on whether he had threatened anyone and without asking him they went to the Supreme Court." Singh earlier this week tried to re-claim the anti-graft agenda, vowing to introduce a new corruption bill in the next session of parliament which begins on August 1. He has repeatedly said he enforces a "zero tolerance" policy on graft, which has become a major political battleground. In April, veteran anti-graft campaigner Anna Hazare forced the government to allow him and other activists to sit on the drafting committee for the new law after he went on a hunger strike for 98 hours. Hazare's strike attracted widespread public support from millions of Indians who are often affected by everyday corruption when dealing with officials. Current laws require the government's approval before any sitting bureaucrat or minister can be prosecuted. The new bill is expected to remove this requirement.