Published: Monday, Oct 11, 2010, 1:41 IST
By Harish Gupta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_is-sonia-gandhi-giving-karunanidhi-the-short-shrift_1450828
Is there a subtle shift in the Congress’ attitude towards DMK, its southern ally?
At least, that’s how it appeared when Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not show her usual warmth when Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi met her on Saturday.
Gandhi was on her way to Tiruchi to attend a party function.
Contrary to the friendliness evident in previous meetings between the two leaders, it was a cool affair in the VVIP lounge at Meenambakkam airport.
This surprised many people, since the ageing Karunanidhi had travelled all the way to the airport to receive Gandhi. It was learnt that Karunanidhi had invited her home for a meal, but Sonia expressed her inability to visit him. That’s when Karunanidhi decided to have a brief meeting in the airport. He wanted to discuss important matters, including the 2G spectrum issue.
However, that was not to be. Sonia met him, received the flower bouquet and excused herself saying she was short of time due to various programs in Delhi. Then, she quickly left the VVIP lounge to get into a helicopter.
What happened at Tiruchi was another shocker. Sonia said that the Congress must become a party of the future. “We are in alliance [with DMK] and we respect it. But we must work to become the party of the future.”
This was a new signal that Sonia sent the DMK and it followed the Rahul Gandhi line on reviving the party. It seems the party is not keen to play second fiddle to the DMK in the state polls and would like to have its pound of flesh if it bails out telecom minister A Raja.
