DMK will back former TelecomMinister A Raja if the issue of his request to appear beforethe Joint Parliamentary Committee as a witness on the 2G caseis raised at the UPA Coordination Committee meeting here onTuesday.
"If the Congress raises the issue..., asks us, we have tostand by Raja," party spokesman T K Elangovan, MP, told PTIwhen asked whether the issue could be raised by the DMK, a keyconstituent of the UPA, at the Coordination Committee meetingconvened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Besides, Elangovan said Raja's request to appear beforethe JPC was a "new development" and "our leader may advise us"about future course of action.
The DMK spokesman said his party would raise the issue ofSri Lankan Tamils and farmers suicides in Tamil Nadu at theUPA Coordination Committee meeting.
A DMK member of Lok Sabha, Raja is a prime accused in the2G spectrum case who had been in Tihar jail for several monthsbefore being granted bail.
He had met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar some days backand handed her a letter expressing his willingness to appearas a witness before the JPC.
Raja has contended that while he has the "fullest respect"for the court, "the fact remains that I have been condemnedunheard." He has sent a copy of the letter to Congress leaderP C Chacko, who heads the JPC.
Raja's request to Kumar comes days after Attorney GeneralG E Vahanvati blamed him for various issues before the JPC.
"The truth of the matter is being suppressed on the basisof preconceived notions, deliberate bias, faulty investigationand erroneous conclusions.
"...perhaps the most telling example of this situation isthe judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 02.02.2012,where specific and prejudicial observations were made againstme without giving me a hearing," Raja wrote in the letter.
Chacko is likely to get back to Raja with a final decisionsoon on the issue after consulting other committee members,JPC sources said.
Reports had it that Raja's desire to testify before theJPC could be extremely damaging for the ruling UPA, as itfuels a controversy which the government is now trying to givea quiet burial after over two years of turbulentparliamentary, judicial and media scrutiny since November2010.
Chacko is likely to get back to Raja with a final decisionsoon on the issue after consulting other committee members,the sources said.
Raja's request has come when the three-month-long Budgetsession has just commenced.
Congress has steered clear of the issue while an AIADMKhas leader said it was a fight between DMK and Congress andhis party would not get into it.
With Parliament reconvening on Tuesday and the JPCscheduled to meet soon after, Raja's demand could become amajor rallying point for the BJP and Left parties.
At the UPA meeting, besides several issues, the Telanganastatehood demand is expected to figure. NCP chief Sharad Pawarhad suggested the need for such an early meeting to discussTelangana.
The meeting will be the first formal interaction betweenCongress and allies after the AgustaWestland helicopter scambroke out .
Meanwhile, another ally National Conference is apparentlyupset over the way the execution of Parliament attack convictAfzal Guru was carried out. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hadsaid it would increase alienation of Kashmiris from the Indianmainstream.