Vaiko visits Karunanidhi, breaks ice with MK Stalin

Chennai: MDMK leader Vaiko on Tuesday visited his mentor and DMK president M. Karunanidhi, in a move that signals that the two parties are getting close to each other burying their decade-old rivalry.

DMK working president M. K. Stalin and principal secretary K. Duraimurugan welcomed him at the Gopalapuram residence. Vaiko is meeting Stalin after two years, since they met in 2015 at Mamallapuram, in a marriage function in Karunanidhi's family.

Vaiko told the mediapersons that he would attend the platinum jubilee function of DMK organ ‘Murasoli’ on September 5, further indicating that the two parties could further move towards an alliance, at a time when the two factions are involved in a fierce battle and political brinksmanship to capture the party. He also praised his mentor as the one who brought Vaiko to politics and made the latter as an MP.

The visit breaks the ice between Vaiko and Stalin, who were gunning for each other for more than a decade since Vaiko walked out of the DMK alliance just before the 2006 Assembly elections. During his earlier visit to see Karunanidhi at Kauvery hospital, Vaiko was stopped by DMK cadre who were protesting violently near the hospital.