Even as the United Progressive Alliance government battles protests by Opposition BJP over the selection of Telecom Secretary PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, it has now been stung by one of its allies, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is reportedly upset over the lack of courtesy extended by the government on the appointment.
The DMK claims that the Prime Minister's Office did not show the courtesy to Telecom Minister A Raja on the selection of P J Thomas as CVC.
Highly placed DMK sources told rediff.com that after having selected P J Thomas as CVC, courtesy demanded that the decision be conveyed to his boss, A Raja.
A DMK leader, who spoke to rediff.com on telephone from Chennai, said that either Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, TKA Nair, or Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar
should have called up Raja to convey the decision.
Failing in their courtesy, Raja learnt about such an appointment through the media. Later, Thomas called up the Telecom Minister to let him know about his selection.
Should Raja wait to know about selection of Thomas as CVC from the media, they ask.
DMK is also peeved over silence over the successor of Thomas as Secretary to the Department of Telecommunication. No panel of IAS officers' names have been submitted to Raja.
When the Comptroller and Auditor General, Central Bureau of Investigation, Public Accounts Committee and other government agencies are inquiring into the 2G allocation, which has created a major political storm.
The successor of Thomas should be an officer with high integrity. He will take at least two or three months to understand the 2G issue. Abruptly taking away Thomas was a severe jolt to Raja, feels a senior DMK leader.