You still have cases pending, will you quit as chief minister, DMK asks Jaya

The DMK today came out in support of textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, embroiled in a controversy over alleged pay-offs in the 2G spectrum allocation and slammed Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa for demanding his resignation.

"Jayalalithaa won't quit as chief minister to face a court case, but should Maran do the same? People will understand this," the DMK said in a statement.

In a joint statement, party spokespersons Pon. Muthuramalingam and KS Radhakrishnan sought to remind Jayalalithaa that she herself was facing a disproportionate assets case in a Bangalore court.

On Jayalalithaa's demand for Maran's resignation, they said it would not be proper on her part to make such statements without considering that she herself was facing corruption charges.

On Wednesday, Jayalalithaa had demanded Maran's resignation following reports that his family-owned Sun TV Network was a beneficiary of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefited from equity sold by Aircel and had demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seek Maran's resignation.