Dayanidhi Maran, Communications Minister, Government of India and member of the coalition partner DMK resigned from his post having being recalled by his party leaders for so called ‘anti-party activities’.
This is a pity, but not unexpected.
It’s a pity, because the guy was doing a decent job, keeping India on the fast track of telecommunications progress. Search the net, scan the news papers or speak with leaders of Indian industry and they will tell you the same story.
It’s not unexpected, because self-centered, egotistical politics often takes precedence over ‘doing the right thing’ in our country.
In this case what was Maran’s crime against his party? A newspaper owned by his family published the findings of a poll conducted among people about which of the party Boss’ sons should take over when the time comes… and the louts, er sorry, supporters of the son who came second in the poll agitated and vandalized the offices of the newspaper. And then, the party itself got into the act and recalled Maran from Delhi.
Obviously freedom of thought and expression is not a part of this party’s culture.
So we shall just have to wait and see what happens to our Telecommunications Ministry. Will the positive steps taken by him, including drafting a fabulous telecom policy, encouraging competition and growth among telecom companies, and basic stuff like providing free broadband for every Indian citizen will continue, or will they get disconnected thanks to the inappropriate callings of his party?
I guess the UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh will find a good replacement for Maran. Hopefully someone in the same genre as people like Maran, Kamal Nath, Jairam Ramesh, Praful Patel and Dr. Singh himself.
