Chennai: Indicating an unease in ties between his party and the Congress, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi on Sunday skipped a dinner hosted for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Governor SS Barnala here.
The Chief Minister`s office said Karunanidhi could not attend the dinner at the Raj Bhavan owing to prior commitment.
Karunanidhi, a key ally of UPA, was busy attending a book release function by his close friend and renowned poet
Vairamuthu.
However, sources close to the Chief Minister said Karunanidhi would meet the Prime Minister at 8:30 AM tomorrow
at the Raj Bhavan.
During the meeting, Karunanidhi is expected to request the Prime Minister to release more funds for relief works in the
districts which faced the monsoon fury last month.
There have been signs of unease in ties between the DMK and
Congress over the alleged scam in 2G spectrum allocation, on
which Parliament was stalled during the winter session.
Former telecom minister A Raja, a DMK representative, was
forced to resign from the Cabinet in the wake of allegations
involving him in the scam, that has dented the image of the
UPA government.
Deputy Chief Minister and Karunanidhi`s son M K Stalin
was among those who received the Prime Minister, who arrived
in the city this evening on a two-day visit to attend the 98th
Indian Science Congress.
PTI
