Centre distances itself from Maran issue

The government on Monday sought to distance itself from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's decision to remove Dayananidhi Maran from the Union Cabinet saying it was for the coalition partners to decide on their nominees.

"This cannot be an issue in the House. It was an arrangement by the coalition partners as to who will be in the government and who will not be," Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunshi told reporters in Delhi.

He also cited the instance of Shiv Sena replacing Suresh Prabhu with Anant Geete in the Vajpayee government when the National Democratic Alliance was in power.