THE DMK may have dashed the Congress?s hopes of clinching an electoral tie-up with it but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has no ill-will towards DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. Sources said the PM remembered Karunanidhi as the ?god father? of the UPA during a meeting with former union minister and Karunanidhi?s son M K Alagiri on Thursday.
During the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, the discussion veered to the present political situation in Tamil Nadu and then to DMK?s pullout from the UPA. Singh is learnt to have suggested that communication gap between the two parties led to the rupture in ties and regretted that DMK walked out of the UPA.
The DMK was with the UPA for nine years of its 10-year rule. It snapped ties in March last year over the Sri Lankan Tamils? issue.
During the meeting, the issue of Alagiri?s candidature also came for a mention. The Madurai MP is said to have told the PM he had informed the party two months ago about his intention to not contest this time. Suspended from DMK and relieved of his posts for violating party discipline, he was denied a ticket by his party.
Alagiri later said his meeting with the PM was a ?courtesy call?. On next course of action, he said, ?Please wait for two months. I will reveal my stand after consulting my supporters.?
He was non-committal on floating his own party but said he would play a role in the elections. ?I would surely play a role. But I cannot indicate the kind of role,? he said. He said he thanked the PM under whom he had served as a minister for four years.
