Tainted minister must quit or must be removed from the post urged the Communist Party of India State Secretary Narayana, in Wqarangal, today. The CPI leader was referring to the Secondary education minister Parthasarathy who was sentenced to two months imprisonment by a special court (which deals financial irregularities) in Nampally for violating FERA regulations. The CPI leader also expressed despair over the state being ruled by mafia's of a different sorts. He said liquor, mining and drugs mafia were on the prowl in the state.
However the Minister was on self-defense, when questioned about the quit, “I don’t think there is any reason for me to quit. The question of owning moral responsibility does not arise as irregularities allegedly committed by me had happened eight years before I entered public life.”
He also claimed his innocence over the issue, “As part of the agreement with a foreign company, I had sent some money in foreign exchange to it in Switzerland which was 15 per cent of the cost of the equipment. Subsequently, the bankers backed out and I lost the advance amount paid to the company because I could not pay the remaining 85 per cent in time. I did not make any money. In fact, I lost a lot of money.” (With inputs from internet-AW AarKay)
