Manmohan Singh, Karunanidhi vow for strong ties

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said his meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was very cordial and their (Congress and DMK) ties were ” as strong as ever.”

Karunanidhi, who is also the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) president, said their ties with the ruling Congress were “strong”.

Karunanidhi called on PM at the Raj Bhawan here on Monday morning, hours after he skipped a dinner with the visiting leader after failing to greet him at the airport on Sunday, prompting widespread speculation about the deteriorating friendly between the two allies at the Centre.

Referring his party’s relations with the Congress after 2G scam, Karunanidhi told reporters: “It is as strong as the ties between you and me.”

The CM spent about half-an-hour at Raj Bhawan. The meeting with the PM was first after DMK leader A Raja quit the Union cabinet as Telecom Minister following 2G scam.

Karunanidhi did not go to the airport to greet Singh on his arrival on Sunday evening, prompting speculations about fast deteriorating relations between the Congress and DMK–two partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Describing the meeting as cordial, DMK sources said the CM had urged the PM to allocate additional funds for relief in the districts, hit by natural calamity in the monsoon.

But media reports quoted inside sources as saying that the two leaders also exchanged views on common interest for the UPA government.

Earlier, Singh had cancelled his inauguration programme for the DMK government’s Adyar Park project due to a last minute glitch in obtaining the environment ministry’s approval.

The PM said on the alliance that it was “as strong as ever.”

Singh was in Chennai to inaugurate the 98th Science Congress.