INDIAN Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran resigned today over corruption allegations, television reports said, dealing a new blow to the administration of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Indian police suggested yesterday that Maran, who was telecoms minister from 2004-07, may have manipulated the sale of second-generation (2G) mobile phone licences in favour of companies to which he was linked.
Dr Singh has grappled with a string of government-linked graft scandals over the last year, including claims that the allocation of the 2G licences cost the treasury $40bn (£25.03bn) in lost revenue.
In the police report lodged with the Supreme Court yesterday, Maran was alleged to have forced a businessman to sell a stake in the Aircel telecoms group to another company that was close to the Maran family.
The NDTV news channel said that Maran had resigned after talks between the Congress party that leads the government and Maran’s regional DMK party, which is part of the ruling coalition.
