Suspense over CM-Shah meet as HM’s office remains silent

While the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed his appointment for late Thursday, uncertainty continued over the meeting with Shah with the ruling DMK exploring official channels to fix the appointment. It has been reliably learnt that the Home Minister’s office did not confirm the appointment till Wednesday evening. 

If information reaching here from the national capital were something to go by, Shah was not too keen on engaging the DMK president politically. Sources in the DMK admitted that there was an element of hesitancy in the BJP leader’s camp owing to the past credentials of the DMK, which was crucial in keeping #Gobackmodi hashtag trending on social media on many instances when the PM visited Tamil Nadu during the last seven years. 

A DMK insider, who did not wish to be named, said the Union Home Minister or any other Minister cannot refuse to meet a state Chief Minister. 

“Even the meeting with the PM was strictly official and administrative. Our leader has gone in the capacity of a Chief Minister, not as DMK president to discuss politics. He will meet the Home Minister for official reasons. He will meet and discuss politics with ally Left and Congress leaders for political reasons. There is a difference between the two meetings,” he said, before reminding that the ruling BJP would also be wary of the DMK being the third largest party in the Parliament, mainly its strength in the Rajya Sabha, where its numbers are likely to increase in the coming months. Stalin is scheduled to meet Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi on Friday.