A. Raja

Last updated

Parameshwari Raja
​
(died 2021)​
Andimuthu Raja
A still of the Union Minister for Environment & Forests, Shri A. Raja during a meeting of Chief Wildlife Wardens and Field Directors of Project Tiger Reserves, in New Delhi on May 26, 2005.jpg
Raja in 2005
Deputy General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Assumed office
9 September 2020
ChildrenMayuri Raja
OccupationPolitician, Lawyer

Andimuthu Raja (born Sathyaseelan; 26 October 1963) is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, who serves as Member of Parliament for the Nilgiris constituency and deputy general secretary for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. [1] He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu and had been elected to house four times since 1996. Raja is an advocate by profession and he did his master's degree from Government Law College in Tiruchirappalli.

Contents

Raja was first elected to Parliament as a member of Lok Sabha in 1996 from the Perambalur constituency and was reelected from the same constituency in 1999 and 2004 elections and from Nilgiris constituency in 2009. He was Minister of State for Rural development from 1996 to 2000, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare from September 2000 to May 2004 and a cabinet minister for Environment and Forests from May 2004 to May 2007. He became the cabinet minister for Communication and Information Technology from May 2007, following the resignation of Dayanidhi Maran. Raja was a co-accused in the 2G Spectrum case, along with two other members of the DMK, Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. All three were acquitted in 2017. Raja was re-elected as Nilgiris MP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and was elected Deputy General Secretary of the DMK in September 2020.

Early life

Raja was born to S. K. Aandimuthu and Chinnapillai Ammal Andimadam of the day Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu. His grandparents, who belong to a Dalit community, went from Velur in Perambalur district to Sri Lanka to work on the tea estates. They returned to India in the 1950s, and Raja's father returned in 1961. In high school in Perambalur, Raja was first introduced to Periyar and Dravidar Kazhagam. He quickly became interested in the atheistic, rationalistic Dravidian ideology, along with those of Ambedkar and Marx. [2] He did his B.Sc. in mathematics from the Government Arts College in Musiri, but was uninterested in the subject, and was drawn to politics and writing instead. He completed his graduation in law from the Government Law College in Madurai and his masters from Government Law College Tiruchirapalli. He was married to M. A. Parameswari and the couple have a daughter named Mayuri. [3] Parameswari died of cancer on 29 May 2021. She was aged 57. [4]

Political career

Raja started his political career in his final year of undergraduate, when he joined DMK students wing, and quickly rose through party ranks. [5] When Vaiko was expelled from DMK, Raja was recommended by Rajya Sabha MP S Siva Subramaniam and KN Nehru for the DMK's candidature in Perambalur for 1996 Lok Sabha elections. He won, and entered Parliament. [2]

Election Results

General Elections

ElectionsConstituencyResultVote percentageOpposition PartyOpposition vote percentage
1996 Perambalur Won59.19 INC 27.41 [6]
1998 Perambalur Lost43.91 AIADMK 53.37 [7]
1999 Perambalur Won48.58 AIADMK 38.59 [8]
2004 Perambalur Won55.11 AIADMK 33.43 [9]
2009 Nilgiris Won44.64 MDMK 32.52 [10]
2014 Nilgiris Lost39.58 AIADMK 49.7 [11]
2019 Nilgiris Won54.2 AIADMK 33.84

Positions held

As a minister

A. Raja assumes the charge of Union Minister of Environment & Forests in New Delhi on 26 May 2004 Shri A. Raja assumes the charge of Union Minister of Environment & Forests in New Delhi on May 26, 2004.jpg
A. Raja assumes the charge of Union Minister of Environment & Forests in New Delhi on 26 May 2004

Raja was deputed as the Minister of State, Rural Development on 13 October 1996 and he continued to retain the post till 29 September 2000. On 30 September 2001, he was deputed as the minister of state for Health and Family welfare during the National Democratic Alliance. [3] [5] In December 2003, the DMK pulled out of the alliance and Raja resigned his minister's post along with his other DMK colleagues. He continued with the same ministry after the 2004 elections which was won by the Congress led alliance, which included the DMK. [5] His tenure as an Environment ministry came under intense scrutiny in 2011 during the 2G Spectrum case. His association with the key accused in the 2G case, Unitech and DB Realty, was rooted to 2004 when he was the Environment minister. One of the key points out of the CBI is the approval of 2016 clearances given by his ministry in a span of two years from 2006 to 2008, some of which were associated with the trading of hazardous waste. The other issue raised was about the large majority of Raja's supporters in the expert appraisals committee (EAC), responsible for granting clearances to various sectors. [12] [13]

In 2007 May, Dinakaran, the newspaper run by Kalanidhi Maran, the elder brother of Dayanidhi Maran who was the central minister for IT and Communication, ran into a controversy when it published the results of a series of opinion polls which showed M. K. Stalin, the second son of Karunanidhi, having more approval (70%) than his elder brother M. K. Azhagiri (2%) as the political heir of Karunanidhi. It also showed others as 20%, possibly indicating Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. The Madurai office of Dinakaran was fire bombed by supporters of Alagiri and three employees were killed. [14] The Sun TV office in Madurai was also attacked by the perpetrators. [15] A day after the incident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi came to Chennai for felicitating Karunanidhi for 50 years in legislative assembly. Dayanidhi Maran, who usually accompanies Karunanidhi at every function, discarded the event as a mark of protest. On 13 May, the DMK administrative committee empowered Karunanidhi to remove Dayanidhi from the party. This subsequently led to his resignation from the central ministry. [16] Following his resignation, the IT portfolio was allocated to Raja on 16 May 2007. [17] On 17 October 2008, he submitted his post-dated resignation to the DMK party chief, M. Karunanidhi, in protest of the killings of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. [18]

2G spectrum case

The 2G spectrum financial scandal involved the alleged corrupt sale in 2008 of telecommunications bandwidth to selected organizations at prices that understated the real market value of the asset. The sale is claimed to have occurred when Raja headed the Telecommunications and IT Ministry; it has been considered the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to around ₹1,766.45 billion (US$22 billion) [19] [20] of lost income for the Government of India. It is alleged that the sale should have been put under a transparent auction system.

A first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims that the allocation was not done as per market prices. [21] The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) holds Raja personally responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum at 2001 rates in 2008. [22] In August 2010, evidence was submitted by the CAG showing that Raja had personally signed and approved the majority of the questionable allocations. [23] Although the political opposition was demanding his resignation over the 2G spectrum case, Raja initially refused to resign, stating his innocence, and this view was backed by his party president M. Karunanidhi. [24] He eventually resigned on 14 November 2010. [25]

In 2011, the results of an investigation by retired judge Shivraj Patil, who was appointed by then telecom minister Kapil Sibal, also found Raja to have been directly responsible for "procedural lapses" regarding the sale. [26] The CBI and Enforcement Directorate estimated that Raja could have made as much as Rs 30 billion from the alleged bribes. [27]

In January and February 2011, Raja's houses and offices were raided by the CBI, who seized computers as potential evidence. [28] On 2 February 2011, the CBI arrested Raja with his aide, R. K. Chandolia, and Siddharth Behura, the former telecom secretary and placed them in Tihar jail. [29] [30] Raja and R.K. Chandolia are heard in conversation with Niira Radia in the released Radia tapes. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]

Subsequent to his arrest, the DMK supported him on the basis that he was innocent until proven guilty. [36]

On 6 June 2012, Delhi court permitted Raja to visit Tamil Nadu between 8 and 30 June, on grounds of discharging his previous duties in the state. [37]

On 15 May 2012, he was granted bail by the Supreme court under a condition that he would not visit the Department of Telecommunications nor his home state Tamil Nadu. [38] [39] [40] He stayed in Tihar jail for fifteen months. [41] The Enforcement Directorate grilled Raja on 10 July 2012 for four hours, to ascertain his role in grant of 2G licenses especially to Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless.

Delhi court on 21 December 2017 acquitted all accused, including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case. [42]

Involvement in real estate

Sadiq Batcha, a close friend of Raja's, shifted his base to Chennai from his hometown of Perambalur, after Raja became a central minister in 2004. He started a real estate firm called Green House Promoters, which had Raja's nephew Paramesh Kumar as joint managing director and Raja's brother A Kaliyaperumal and Raja's wife Parameswari as directors. Parameswari resigned from the post on account of investigations. Batcha started another real estate firm in 2008 called Equals Estates Pvt Ltd, which had Parameswari as a director. The firm had a turnover of 755 crores in two years, mainly attributed to the association of Raja. Batcha was put under the CBI scanner during the 2G spectrum case as they believed him to be the conduit for Raja. [43] On 16 March 2011, Batcha was found dead in his Chennai residence. Police found a suicide note that read the reason as the excessive media coverage that maligned his image. Police registered a case under suspicious circumstances under Section 174 of the IPC. [44] [45] [46]

Controversies

Separate nation for Tamil Nadu

On 3 July 2022, A Raja said that the Union government is not giving the state autonomy and the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should not force them into demanding a "thani nadu" (separate nation) while speaking at a meeting held for DMK local body representatives, in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin. [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi says all states are to be seen the same, and Home Minister Amit Shah says if you want unity, learn Hindi. The party's founding father Periyar, until [his] death, demanded a thani nadu. But we (DMK) kept aside that demand for our democracy and national integrity, So, I am saying this with the utmost humility. Our CM is travelling in Anna's C. N. Annadurai path so far, do not push us into following Periyar's path. Do not make us revive our demand for a separate state" [47] [48] [51]

DMK immediately distanced itself from the comments and said that the comments made in support of a separate nation is not the stand of the party. [47] [48] [51]

Books

See also

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References

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  2. 1 2 N, Vinoth Kumar (16 April 2019). "Going beyond 2G: The many faces of A Raja". The Federal. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Political Career". Parliament of India. National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "A Raja's wife laid to rest in Perambalur". The Times of India . 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Profile: India ex-telecoms minister A Raja". BBC. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 1996 to the 11th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 1996. p. 396. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 1998 to the 12th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 1998. p. 236. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 1999 to the 13th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 1999. p. 228. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 2004 to the 14th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2004. p. 293. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 2009 to the 15th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2009. p. 131. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "Statistical report on General elections, 2014 to the 16th Lok Sabha". Election Commission of India. 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Yadav, Yatish (10 April 2011). "Raja's environment role under scanner". The Sunday Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Saxena, Sumit (4 April 2011). "Raja formed links as environment minister". The Hindustan Times. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  14. ↑ "TN: 2 killed as Dinakaran office set afire". Rediff. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  15. ↑ Phandis 2009, p. 145
  16. ↑ "DMK kicks out Dayanidhi, brings in Raja as Minister". CNN-IBN. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Raja appointed IT Minister". The Hindu . New Delhi. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "14 DMK MPs hand in resignation letters". India: DNA. 17 October 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  19. ↑ Chapter 5 (PDF) (Report). Comptroller and Auditor General of India. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  20. ↑ Telecommunication Report (PDF) (Report). Comptroller and Auditor General of India. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Raja faces heat as CBI raids DoT on 2G scam". India Today. 23 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  22. ↑ Singh, Shalini (28 October 2009). "BJP takes on Raja over telecom spectrum scam". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  23. ↑ Joseph, Josy (30 August 2010). "CAG draft report nails Raja role in 2G scam". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  24. ↑ "Raja adamant, says won't step down, ready for probe". The Times of India . 12 November 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  25. ↑ "DMK blinks, Raja quits". Hindustan Times. New Delhi, Chennai. 14 November 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  26. ↑ "Justice Patil's report on 2G scam indicts A Raja". The Times of India . 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  27. ↑ Dhananjay Mahapatra (11 February 2011). "A Raja made Rs 3,000cr in bribes". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  28. ↑ "2G spectrum scam: Former Telecom Minister A Raja arrested". NDTV. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  29. ↑ "CBI arrests ex-telecoms min A. Raja over graft". Reuters India. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  30. ↑ PTI (2 February 2011). "2G spectrum scam: Former telecom minister A Raja arrested". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  31. ↑ "Transcript : Raja-Radia Tape". Outlook. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  32. ↑ "Transcript : Radia- Chandolia". Outlook. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
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  35. ↑ "A Raja's stay in Tihar Jail extended till March 17". The Times of India . 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  36. ↑ Gajjar, Tushar (3 February 2011). "DMK backs Raja after arrest in 2G scam". IndiaVoice. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  37. ↑ "A Raja allowed to visit Tamil Nadu between June 8–30". The Times of India . New Delhi. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  38. ↑ "2G case: Raja gets bail, can't visit DoT or Tamil Nadu". Hindustan Times . New Delhi. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  39. ↑ "Raja granted bail, whispered prayers as verdict was announced". NDTV . 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  40. ↑ "2G scam: A Raja gets bail after 15 months in jail". CNN IBN . 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  41. ↑ "A Raja out of jail after 15 months; at his home, dinner for 200". NDTV. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  42. ↑ Tripathi, Rahul (12 July 2012). "ED grills Raja on licenses, beneficiaries". The Indian Express. New Delhi. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  43. ↑ "Sadiq Batcha's fortunes grew apace with Raja's". The Times of India . 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  44. ↑ "Raja aide Sadiq Batcha found dead in Chennai". The Hindu. Chennai. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  45. ↑ Daniel, Sam; Pinto, Sanjay (16 March 2011). "Sadiq Batcha's suicide note found, says Tamil Nadu police". NDTV. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  46. ↑ "Sadiq Batcha, A Raja's close aide dead". The Economic Times. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  47. 1 2 3 "'Propagates separatism' — A. Raja's 'separate Tamil Nadu' comment draws BJP, AIADMK rebuke". ThePrint. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  48. 1 2 3 "DMK MP Raja's heated pitch on 'separate Tamil Nadu', autonomy sets off fiery row". The Indian Express. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  49. ↑ "Making 'Separate Country' Comment, DMK's A Raja Cites Periyar, But He Dumped The Dream 66 Yrs Ago". News18. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  50. ↑ "Don't nudge us to seek independent Tamil Nadu: DMK's A. Raja seeks autonomy with CM Stalin on stage". The Hindu. PTI. 4 July 2022. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  51. 1 2 3 "DMK's A Raja says don't push us to walk Periyar's path for separate Tamil Nadu, sparks row". Hindustan Times. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
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