BJP says no issues if AIADMK joins UPA but A Raja should go

In the wake of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) expressing its willingness to support the UPA government if DMK withdraws support, the BJP today said it had no issues with any "permutations and combinations" as long as telecom minister A Raja is removed and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probes 2-G spectrum scam.

"BJP stand is that A Raja should be sacked immediately and a JPC probe should be ordered into the 2-G Spectrum allocation scam. As long as a thorough investigation is held, we have no issues about the permutations and combinations that may take place," party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told Press Trust of India.

She was replying to a question on AIADMK possibly replacing DMK in the UPA coalition.

Nirmala said the first concern of her party was removal of Raja from the union cabinet and a thorough investigation by a JPC into anomalies in allocation of 2-G Spectrum.

AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa has said in an interview to a news channel that if DMK does not relent to demands for Raja's removal and withdraws support to the UPA government, her party which has 18 MPs is ready to join the Congress-led alliance.

A CAG report has accused A Raja of causing a loss of Rs1.71 lakh crore to the government in allocation of 2-G Spectrum.

With the sacking of Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi (from post of congress parliamentary secretary), BJP feels the time is ripe to increase pressure on government to remove Raja.