Congress sidesteps Jaya's demand over alleged fertiliser scam

"Till I get all the information, I do not want to comment," party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters here.

She was asked to comment on the AIADMK chief's demand seeking the dismissal of Alagiri from the Union Council of Ministers.

Jayalalithaa, who misses no opportunity to target her arch rival Karunanidhi's family, demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drop Alagiri from the ministry, order a CBI probe into the issue and take action against the guilty.

She said Alagiri had failed to act on Minister of State for Fertiliser Srikant Jena's note alerting him about the irregularities and asking him to prevent the loss of Rs 1,000 crore to the government and the farmers.

Jayalalithaa said she had written to Singh on June 26 last year seeking a change in the Centre's fertiliser policy, but no action was taken.

Questioning Alagiri's silence on the issue, she said the people were wondering whether his "keeping mum amounts to admission (to the corruption)".