The Hindu : Front Page : Karunanidhi, Sonia Gandhi meeting today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 05, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Karunanidhi, Sonia Gandhi meeting today

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The arrival of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on Sunday and his official meeting with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday are being watched with keen interest in State Congress circles.

The interest is fired by a strong view that the Congress should stake its claim to share power in the State, having approached the Assembly elections successfully in a coalition.

Courtesy call

Highly placed party sources described the Monday morning meeting between the two leaders as a "courtesy call" and said it was unlikely that the Congress high command would broach the subject.

However, they emphasised that the High Comamnd had an "open mind" on the option of seeking a role in goverance in the State, although the issue was not being seen in the immediate context.

Party sources indicated that according to the pre-poll understanding, the Congress had agreed not to press for sharing power in Tamil Nadu; this led to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam acceding to its request for more seats.

The DMK agreed to reciprocate this gesture in Pondicherry.

Yet there are strong sentiments within the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress that it should be in the Government. State leaders have been periodically making statements to this effect.

During his visit, Mr.Karunanidhi will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Ministers as part of his official engagement.

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