However, it did not deter Thirunavukkarasar, who had further strained the relationship with the DMK by getting his official PR managers in Sathyamurthy Bhavan to publicise AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran’s visit to his daughter’s betrothal, something he did not do for even to former union finance minister P Chidambaram, who had attended the same private function. Congress sources confided that the TNCC chief had called Stalin over phone after realising that DMK organisers had given him a miss. Stalin was understood to have given a non-committal reply during the conversation. Sadly, the TNCC chief could not give the meeting a miss despite the snubbing, courtesy the AICC, which had instructed him to accompany Meira Kumar, irrespective of the DMK not inviting him. However, Thirunavukkarasar dismissed it as ‘false’ and said they had jointly organised the meeting, as was done in other states she had toured thus far.
