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Fair probe against Hegde possible only if he quits, says Swamy

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, MP, today asserted that a fair and fearless prosecution of Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde by government officials would be possible only if he resigned.

In a statement in Madras, he said Hegde, instead of spewing abuse at All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha, should quit to facilitate a fair and fearless probe into the allegations against him.

He claimed that Hegde was facing prosecution in two cases, one relating to allotment of land to his son-in-law and the other relating to commission paid to a Karnataka government firm by a German firm while Hegde was the chief minister.

Responding to Hegde's statement in Bangalore yesterday that it would be better to seek a fresh mandate from the people instead of succumbing to blackmail by Jayalalitha, Dr Swamy pointed out that the Vajpayee government was dependent on the support of the 27 MPs belonging to the AIADMK and its allies.

Dr Swamy also claimed that the decks had now been cleared for prosecuting former Union finance minister P Chidambaram in the Fairgrowth share acquisition case as the Delhi high court had disposed of Chidambaram's application for prosecuting him (Swamy).

UNI

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