Chennai: PMK founder S Ramadoss on Tuesday night met ailing DMK President M Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence, setting off political speculation whether the two former allies are trying to cobble up united opposition against the ruling AIADMK.
This is the first time Ramadoss is meeting Karunanidhi after he was confined to him late last year following age-related illness.
“I inquired about Karunanidhi's health and when I spoke to him, he made efforts to recognise me and even tried to speak,” Ramadoss told reporters after the meeting, during which DMK Working President M.K. Stalin was also pre-
sent.
The DMK chief, who has been ailing for the past 10 months, had recently made few public appearances when he visited the ‘Murasoli’ office and presided over the marriage of one of his great grandsons.
Though it was termed as “courtesy call”, political observers said the meeting has political significance since PMK and DMK are major players in Tamil Nadu especially at a time the state is headed for municipal polls. .
They pointed to the presence of Stalin during the meeting and noted that it is the Opposition Leader who is now calling the shots in the DMK.
PMK and DMK had been in alliance more than once, but had parted ways in 2011 after a drubbing in the Assembly elections
The two parties has had a rocky relationship after the DMK came to power in 2006 due to differences of opinion on various issues that ended in the PMK ditching it for the AIADMK to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
