UPA partner DMK has come under pressure from Congress to suspend Lok Sabha MP and former telecom minister A Raja from the party after he named prime minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P Chidambaram in a statement to the CBI court during the 2G spectrum scam trial.

Congress, according to sources, believes that Raja's "irresponsible" statement implicating the prime minister merits his removal from his party and that the Tamil Nadu based party should oblige. The government, meanwhile, considered readying a senior law officer of the government to defend Singh and Chidambaram in the court.

The probability that Raja will reveal more during his deposition at the court post-lunch has made both the paries jittery. DMK MPs rushed to Patiala court to meet Raja during lunch hour. However, four senior DMK leaders are happy with his statement, sources within the party said. Leaders at the Chennai headquarters of the party are learned to have been in the loop on Raja's name-and-shame tirade, and are believed to have actively encouraged it to turn the heat on the prime minister's office and the Congress.

However, sources say, the party may choose to distance itself from Raja during the course of the trial to keep all routes open to land party supremo Karunanidhi' daughter Kanimozhi, currently at Tihar jail for having recieved kickbacks from 2G beneficiaries, a bail. These routes include maintaining its position as and UPA ally and that of the Congress.

Raja's statement, both Congress and DMK believe, could offer the opposition a stick to beat the UPA with. So, both parties want the matter rested even before it begins. Principal opposition BJP has said that it will react to Raja's statement during its press meet later in the day.