Sonia may unveil statues of TN ex-CMs

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin will meet former Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi on December 10 to invite her for a ceremony to unveil statues of former Tamil Nadu chief ministers Muthuvel Karunanidhi and C N Annadurai.

Gandhi has already indicated she would attend the ceremony on December 16th, a DMK Parliament member said on condition of anonymity, adding that the invite is a mere formality.

Stalin will meet Gandhi, who heads the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, when he will be in New Delhi for the meeting of opposition parties on December 10 at Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu’s invitation. “[Naidu] has invited Stalin to work with him for dethroning the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] .... ” the law- maker said and pointed out that Karunanidhi, who passed away in August, and Gandhi shared an excellent rapport. Those discussions will continue during Gandhi’s visit, this person added.

The DMK has also invited the leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, TDP, Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party, Telugu Rashtriya Samiti and Aam Admi Party for the ceremony at its headquarters – Anna Arivalyam. It will be the second platform for uniting the opposition parties to take on the BJP after the New Delhi meeting.

Tamil Nadu has the most number of Lok Sabha seats, 39, after Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), West Bengal (42) and Bihar (40). The DMK and Congress have been in alliance in the state along with some smaller regional parties and are likely to contest the upcoming polls together.