Modi, Karuna

The meeting wasn’t on Modi’s agenda till Sunday night, although BJP sources said the Prime Minister’s Office was in touch with the DMK over the last couple of days. DMK’S working president MK Stalin, Karunanidhi’s son, who was traveling abroad, cut short his trip by a day and returned to Chennai to receive Modi.

Hours after the meeting, the DMK called off protests in eight districts scheduled on November 8 against the government’s recall of high-value banknotes last year. The party instead urged its workers to do relief work to help people devastated by the recent floods.

The meeting was described by both the BJP and the DMK as a “courtesy call” but triggered political ripples in a state roiled by political instability all year, especially over factional fights in the ruling AIADMK.

The DMK’S arch rival has struggled to close ranks since former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death last December. Its former chief VK Sasikala is in jail on corruption charges but several MLAS are still loyal to her and her nephew, ousted party deputy general secretary TTV