Karunanidhi downplays reports on Rahul Gandhi not responding to greetings

DMK chief M Karunanidhi, whose party is a key UPA ally, on Thursday sought to downplay reports that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had not acknowledged his congratulatory message on his recent elevation to the post.

The DMK patriarch blamed a section of the media for making it an issue when asked about reports that his greeting had not even been responded to by Gandhi and also that he had not given an audience to his party leaders while in Delhi early this week.

"Some dailies/magazines are making it an issue," he said.

Karunanidhi said the leaders, including his son M K Stalin, were only in Delhi to meet the Ambassadors of various countries on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

This was Stalin's first visit to Delhi after Gandhi's elevation and also after Karunanidhi publicly acknowledged him as heir-apparent in DMK.

Soon after Gandhi's elevation at the AICC session in Jaipur, Karunanidhi had greeted him, expressing confidence that he would take the party to a 'new height.'

"Your abiding interest in the youth of our country and your earnest commitment to the advancement of rural areas and farmers are all well-known," the DMK chief had said in a faxed message to Gandhi.

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