That morning, grand uncle and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi called. "Daya you put in the papers, Let us meet this evening. You come down, here," were the three sentences spoken.

Former Union Textile Minister, Dayanidhi Maran was a marked man. Ever since the 2G scam broke out and fingers were pointed to all and sundry from the DMK party, it was only a matter of time before things got to Maran's doorstep.

When things finally got too hot to handle and the Congress began asking for his papers, Maran was still under the illusion that he would come out of the crisis unscathed. It took a lot of convincing and cajoling from senior Congress leaders, accompanied by a phone call from former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi to get Maran to submit his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers.

Here's how it happened….

Sharad Pawar, President of the National Congress Party, played a key role in taming former Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, as Dayanidhi Maran was reluctant to quit. But the primary credit goes to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who brought in Pawar to speak first to Maran. This was done to indicate the mood of the Congress Core Committee.

On the fateful day (for Maran), Pawar called Maran and told him the need of the hour was for him to go. In unspoken tandem, the television networks were agog about the CBI status report on Maran's involvement in the 2G scam as it was filed in the Supreme Court.

It is reported that Maran, switched on the television and was shocked to hear Times Now's Arnab Goswami speak with a panel of top lawyers and editors, on the theme "Maran should go". This did upset Maran, as a while ago Pawar had also conveyed the same, in essence. Maran was not given time to think or act. Finally, he decided to seek a one-month reprieve from Pawar.

Meanwhile, flash news on the television read that Maran could be skipping the Cabinet meet. The 'read between the lines' very clearly indicated that the Prime Minister, who was already upset, had conveyed that he did not want Maran to be present at the meet. The process had been set in motion the previous night, with the Congress Core Committee authorizing Pranab Mukherjee to speak to Pawar and Union Minister for Shipping and Road Transport T R Baalu. The main contention was that Dayanidhi Maran should submit his resignation by 10 am, to time with the Union Cabinet meeting which was scheduled for 11 am.

Meanwhile, through a network of common friends, Pranab asked Pawar to speak to Karunanidhi, and it was decided that subsequently T R Baalu should call Chennai and convey the message that, ‘Maran must quit’. Meanwhile, a close friend of Pawar called up Maran, to suggest that Maran should call Pawar, who was about to land in Mumbai, from New Delhi. Maran suspected, rightly, that the call would be about the resignation letter.

During this time, T R Baalu telephoned Maran and informed him that Core Committee wanted him out of Cabinet, as CBI had named him in its status report to the Supreme Court. Around 9:30 am that morning, grandfather and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi called. “Daya (Karuna’s pet name for Dayanidhi Maran) you put in the papers, Let us meet this evening. You come down, here,” were the three sentences spoken.

Eyewitness accounts state that an infuriated Maran shouted at the Congress about his being used for electioneering campaign, and then being ignored when the going got tough. Finally, when reality hit him, he agreed to speak to the Prime Minister at the Cabinet meeting and hand over the ‘most wanted’ letter.

As per plan, Maran went 15 minutes behind the schedule, took a corner seat when the Cabinet meeting was in progress. To show his ‘fair mindedness’ Maran even left the room when an agenda item about FM radio was read out. He acted righteous and declared a conflict of interest in FM radio, but also signaled that he would be back once the topic was over. Subsequently, a deputy secretary came out to convey that the Cabinet had taken up another agenda and that he was welcome to resume sitting in the meeting.

However, after all this drama, Dayanidhi Maran told a Tamilspeaking Minister that it was all “khatham”, the Hindi word for “over”. Three other Tamil-speaking Ministers stared at Maran and understood what he meant.

By 1.30 pm, the same day, Maran drove to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh’s residence to meet the personal secretary to hand over his resignation letter. The resignation letter was faxed to President Dr Pratibha Patil, who was in Tirupati for her wedding anniversary. The resignation letter was followed up with a phone call from the PMO, to the President, to accept the resignation of Dayanidhi Maran from the Union Council of Ministers.

While most people knew it was only a matter of time before Maran would be asked to step down, the best reaction to Maran’s resignation came from former Union Minister A Raja, who was in the CBI Court talking to news reporters. When he heard the news, he is said to have laughed boisterously and then asked the news reporters to distribute laddoos.