UNDER PRESSURE INDIAN MINISTER QUITS FOR FAVOURING MALAYSIAN FIRM

NEW DELHI, July 7 (Bernama) -- Indian Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran
resigned on Thursday amidst controversy that he pressured a local entrepreneur
to sell his mobile phone firm to a Malaysian company, while he was then
telecommunications minister.

He tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) linked him to the second generation
mobile phone spectrum allocation scam (2G scandal), reported CNN-IBN, a
Delhi-based news channel.

CBI, in its court filings, said Maran, 44, (India's telecommunications
minister from 2004 to 2007), misused his powers to force the Chennai-based owner
to sell his stakes to a company controlled by a Malaysian tycoon.

"I have never had to force anyone to do business or to sell the business. If
someone feels forced, they could have always gone to the court," Maran had told
the media last week, maintaining his innocence.

A member of the Dravida Munettra Kazhagam (DMK) and grand-nephew of
former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, he is the second major casualty
for the party.

Earlier, former telecom minister A. Raja was forced to resign (in November,
last year) after he too, was accused of awarding 2G spectrum licences to
selected influential telecommunication bidders at very cheap rates.

Last May, K. Kanimozhi, Karunanidihi's daughter and a member of parliament,
was jailed for allegedly receiving bribes related to the 2G scandal.

Both Raja and Kanimozhi, senior bigwigs of DMK, are now spending time in
Delhi's Tihar Jail.

-- BERNAMA