PM, Karunanidhi meeting does not materialise

CHENNAI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here Sunday but his expected meeting with DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi late in the evening did not take place.

It was being expected that the prime minister and Karunanidhi would meet at the Raj Bhavan after the former’s arrival from New Delhi, ahead of an engagement Monday at SRM University in Kattankalathur near here.

The prime minister would inaugurate the 98th Indian Science Congress at the university.

Political analysts were looking forward to the meeting between Karunanidhi and prime minister’s as it would have been their first encounter after the raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the houses and offices of DMK MP and former communications minister A. Raja and his associates in connection with the 2G spectrum scandal.

Following the raids, Raja was also questioned by the CBI in New Delhi.

According to DMK sources, it is not known whether the prime minister and Karunanidhi would meet Monday morning before Manmohan Singh leaves for the science congress.

The prime minister was earlier scheduled to inaugurate the DMK government’s showpiece Adyar Eco Park Monday. However, the programme was cancelled as the project was not cleared by the union environment ministry.

The prime minister was earlier received by Tamil Nadu’s Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin - Karunanidhi’s son - at the airport.

On Saturday, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram met Karunanidhi here. The former, a supporter of the DMK-Congress alliance, said he met the chief minister to wish him on the occasion of the New Year.