Former Union Communications Minister A. Raja, who is facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case in New Delhi, arrived to a rousing reception by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at the airport here on Friday evening.
Mr. Raja, who obtained court permission to be in Tamil Nadu up to June 30, arrived in Chennai after a year and four months. He was arrested in New Delhi on February 2, 2011. He was given conditional bail on May 15 this year.
DMK cadre reached the airport in large numbers in vans, cars and buses, with the police video-graphing every vehicle that brought them.
Many among the hundreds of DMK workers who thronged the airport were seen carrying banners and placards. Some were seen wearing vests and T-shirts hailing Mr. Raja as ‘Tiharai vendra theerane' (braveheart who conquered Tihar) and ‘Tamizhinathin maravane' (soldier of the Tamil race). They raised slogans welcoming him.
A music troupe was in attendance and the DMK workers danced to its tunes.
Mr. Raja's flight landed around 5.30 p.m. Soon after reaching the terminal building, he spent nearly half an hour in the lounge. The moment he came out, DMK workers tried to push everyone aside and move towards the vehicle that was to carry Mr. Raja to the city.
The vehicle was unable to move for some time as it was surrounded by enthusiastic DMK workers.
He accepted shawls from DMK functionaries and it took nearly 15 minutes for the vehicle to come out of the airport premises.
Mr. Raja met DMK president M. Karunanidhi at the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam here. The party leader welcomed him with a garland in the presence of DMK functionaries.
Later, when reporters asked him how he felt on meeting Mr. Raja after a gap of over a year, Mr. Karunanidhi said: “I have the same feeling that an elder brother will have when he meets his younger brother after nearly a year…”
The former minister, who initially declined to take questions that may have a bearing on the 2G case trial, later rejected the charge that he caused Rs.1.76 lakh crore loss in the allotment of spectrum and telecom licences.
The charges framed did not mention any loss to the exchequer but pertained to the abuse of power.
No court had charged him for the notional loss of 1.76 crore.
It had not been substantiated or admitted by the trial court.
The huge figure was mentioned only by the media. “I have not faced any setback in the case,” he averred.
He pledged continuing loyalty to his leader and said that he re-read Mr. Karunanidhi's memoirs, ‘Nenjukku Neethi', in prison and gained great strength from it.
“I drew moral strength from it so that I can defend my case and emerge clean from the charges.”
Asked whether Mr. Raja would be given a role in active politics, the DMK president answered in the affirmative.
To a question on what would be his role in the party, Mr. Raja said whatever the party president directed him to do, he would carry it out.
Keywords: A. Raja, Chennai visit
The celebrations were however less muted than what Kanimozhi got. One would have
thought that she was returning after winning an Olympic gold medal.
Rajkumar
Dangerous precedent; Saner elements from all walks of life should wake up and do someting
to protect our future generation from fast slinding values.
guys please do not waste your time by writing here... nothing is going to change as such.
How come people like him defend the case as if he did not do any mistake. If he is not doing the mistake how come the court arrested him and put in jail. They still think that people are jokers. God has to save the country from these jokers.
In our country such politicians who plunders money gets more powerful and no other country can witness such a happening. The judicial process should be speeded up and only then the culprits can be punished. The longer the time it takes the weaker the case would become. I won't be surprised that people like Laloo, Mulayam, Mayawati, Raja and many others would never be punished by the judiciary. The Laws are only meant for the weak and poor and law abiding middle class.
rousing reception for stealing public money?
Will this sort of a thing happen anywhere else in the world ? Rousing reception to a person who is chargesheeted in a MEGA SCAM and is out only on a Bail ? When will our people think and act/react ?
Shame on Indian Politics and politicians!! A person who cheats government, spends an year in jail and has all kind of restrictions on his travel by the court, still gets a rousing reception!! Is this what India supposed to be? Are we expected to be proud of this fellow?
It would be good if News could have come with ex.minister Raja, Instead of caste based writing him. Moreover, he is not a freedom writer and he is a prime accused as per court says.
Nice. Please arrange for Noble piece prize.
Is he suggesting that he was declared innocent and his custody remand in Tihar jail was wrong? Imagine how many swindlers like him would get such a reception? It could happen only in India. Shame on these politicians and they are nothing but parasites. No wonder he is falling under the steps of MK who is defined as a scientific fraud.
We as a nation should hang our head in shame. A scamster gets a heroes welcome and the accused himself has no sense of shame of remorse at his wrongdoings. We as a nation have no conscience of good and bad anymore. Come to think of it maybe this is the result of being slaving under foreign rulers for centuries, maybe we haven't yet lost the 'ghulam' mentality which is reflected in the throngs of people garlanding the accused when otherwise he should be hiding his head in shame.This is sick and i feel ashamed as an Indian to see my own people come to this level.
Interesting. Looks like he was in jail for a great cause!! No wonder democracy is in such good shape in India. The party does not condemn corruption, it is willing to give him active political roles and party members consider him as hero! Basically he can get back to the same post and do the same thing he did. The people let him to...
Nothing else can be expected from a party of corrupt leader and a corrupt party members
Oh Yes!! He surely deserved this 'rousing reception'..After all he has devoted himself for the development of the country and the betterment of the common masses of this poor country by just looting some Rs.1.70 Lac Crore..Not only this he has also made the 'House of People' of this country proud by serving some 1 year in the respected Tihar Jail where only the greatest among the great can go..
I should have not clicked on this link to read this article. I request The Hindu not to cover such news. The last thing that A.Raja needs is publicity and acknowledgement from the public.
Its bit of both extremes really. He is vilified by CAG and media for Rs. 1.70 lakh crore scam that was not to be. That looks too tiny in front of the actual charge which is criminal conspiracy and his quid pro quo favors to telecom companies in allotting the 2G licenses. So, it really gives a picture as if he is being victimized for sins that he did not commit. Reality is CAG & media blew out of proportion the actual issue here and put the number 1.70 lakh crore into people's mind. Now that everyone is realizing that the number 1.70 lakh crore never existed rest of the issue goes into background and he comes out like a victim and hence the celebration. The fact is, he should be made accountable for any of his misdeed and that lies with the court. If the media keeps portraying him as the face of 1.70 lakhs crores, he will only have more sympathizers and growing popularity. Media got it this one wrong.
Its a pity that someone like Raja who is accused of the biggest bribery scandal in independent india, still got followers. Raja wasn't put behind bars because he fought for a noble cause like Gandhi. He was accused of looting public money and misusing the position he was conferred on. And they say he conquered the tihar jail. Well, God save them.
Birds of a feather flock together!
The prodigal son will always has a wecome home party
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Ours is a country that celebrates alleged crooks and kills honest 'whistle blowers' in broad daylight ! Do we really need to call ourselves as a developing nation ???
Being arrested and jailed is itself an insult to one's honour.. Released on bail does not mean acquitted. So where is the cause for celebration?
The have nots and the unscrupulous going after the corrupt and the rich. A nation obsessed with glorifying the wealthy however ill-gotten their wealth.
This can happen only in India.
Aftermath of Raja's rousing reception at Chennai on bail from 2G scam, youth of India may start rethinking to adopt life style of these leaders who have swindled a hefty amount from Govt. fund and at the cost of 15 maonths jail they have regained the popularity & public acclaim What after all common men wants to achieve in his life Wealth & popularity which can easily be earnedby either adopting RAJA style or another way like KASAB getting a VIP tretment & Crores of rupee spent on him perannum when more than 50% popultion goes to sleep one time meals.In presen context Gandhi, Subhash, Bhagat Singh are fools. They did not know the correct way of life.
what do the local passengers answer, if they were enquired by foriegn tourists for the reasons for this rousing reception ?. how shameless a party can be ?..rousing reception for a guy who has been charged for 100 million dollars ? and who has been only out in a conditional bail pending finally hearing ?..
A welcome for what? Raja 'conquered Tihar jail'? What does that mean? That he escaped after breaking it? This goes well beyond political support and seems to break new ground into territories of being challenged.
This is the way the Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu behave,they don't think that they have been jailed for their criminal activities.Shame on these so called leaders.
Innocent until proven guilty for sure. But this jubilation (for someone accused of swindling the public) is untimely and inappropriate. It would be all right in case of an acquittal. As is, it sends the wrong message to the Justices of the court deciding the case: Don't mess with our man, or else! Is Tamilnadu a state ruled by laws or what?
Gone are the days when people showed such zeal and enthusiasm for leaders like Gandhi and Nehru.
TN is becoming place of Goons, Goondas and corrupt people. He is looter of public money, why he should get rousing welcome. The central Government is boneless and because of that all the corrupt people supporting the government are roaming freely. This should change.
it is wonderful to see the all forgiving public welcome a man who has been through so much for his country,his people, his PM,his fellow collegue ministers.India needs more such ministers who are willing to sacrifice their life for their country like their ancestors did for the satyagraha movement...so what if he made a 'little' money along the way,it has become a norm anyway and he got his 'little' punishment too. Thanks to Hindu for giving the poor man some publicity, the least you could given what he has gone thru.Long live the Indian democracy!!! Jai Hind.
Taint or no taint -- Hero Worship is the first and last word of Tamilnadu
Seriously!! What a shame!!
Really unfortunate situation... this makes us even more sad about the fate of our country... literally gone to dogs..
what a shame!
When will the people of Tamilnadu wake up and stop celebrating the release on bail of an accused in a huge scam? Media should stop reporting these kinds of idiotic events.
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