PM Modi meets Karunanidhi, invites him to 7 RCR

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met DMK chief Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai during his visit to the city on Monday.

On his arrival at Gopalpuram residence, PM Modi was greeted by MK Stalin at the entrance.

PM Modi invited Karunanidhi to his residence in Delhi. "Come and stay in my New Delhi residence and take rest," Modi told Karunanidhi.This is seen as a grand gesture by PM Modi whom DMK opposes vehemently.

The meeting between Modi and Karunanidhi was reportedly for 10 minutes setting off speculation of a possible alliance ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

PM Narendra Modi's visit to the city comes amid buzz in the state of veteran actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan taking the political plunge.

Karunanidhi fell ill in October, 2016 due to a drug-induced allergy. In December last, he was admitted to the Kauvery Hospital here twice. The veteran leader was admitted to the hospital for "optimisation of nutrition and hydration" in the first week of December and later, due to a throat and lung infection. He had undergone tracheostomy, a procedure to optimise breathing.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had called on the DMK patriarch at his residence in December, 2016.

The nonagenarian leader had made his first public appearance on October 19 this year, the first since his illness, when he visited an exhibition here held to showcase the 75-year journey of DMK's mouthpiece, 'Murasoli'.

During the 2014 elections, Karunanidhi had played a key role in forming an alliance against the NDA. Though Narendra Modi has visited Chennai after becoming Prime Minister, this is the first time that he has reached out to the DMK chief.

Modi is in this city to attend the platinum jubilee function of a vernacular daily.

The prime minister will also attend the wedding of the daughter of Dr TV Somanathan, a senior official in the PMO, at Raja Annamalaipuram.

OneIndia News