Karunanidhi making steady progress, says Stalin

Ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi is making "steady progress", his son and party's Working President M K Stalin said today.

The DMK President will turn 94 on June 3. It is his usual practice to meet supporters on his birthday, but the former Chief Minister is recuperating after undergoing tracheostomy, a procedure aimed at optimising breathing, in December last.

The veteran leader had suffered breathing difficulty due to throat and lung infection. Karunanidhi has since not made any public appearance.

"Thalaivar's (leader's) health is showing steady progress. But we will decide on him meeting supporters only if doctors permit it," Stalin told reporters here.

Plans are also afoot to celebrate Karunanidhi's diamond jubilee celebrations of his entry into the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Stalin said.

The veteran leader was first elected to the state Assembly from Kulithalai, then in Tiruchirappalli, in 1957.