Modi bid to soften DMK, till the ground for future?

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made an unscheduled but pre-planned visit to Gopalapuram to meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi, which took political circles in the State by surprise.
Despite both DMK and BJP maintaining it was just a courtesy call, it is widely believed it was a tactical ploy to blunt the attack on his government and its policies in a strategically significant State and trying to sow the seeds of a realignment.

“We cannot consider it as a courtesy call. Prime Minister’s meeting with Karunanidhi has deeper political meanings,” political analyst and senior journalist R Mani told Express.
With the DMK in the past forging alliances with parties having contrasting ideologies such as Third Front, BJP and then Congress, the possibilities of a political realignment in Tamil Nadu, where the saffron outfit is trying to gain a foothold, cannot be ruled out.
“You can’t rule out the possibilities of a political realignment in the future given the adaptability of DMK,” Mani noted.

In 1999, Murasoli Maran had steered his uncle Karunanidhi towards the BJP-led NDA. However, sensing an electoral reversal, the party snapped ties months before the 2004 general elections to join hands with the Congress and claim plum posts in the Union Cabinet.
Another political analyst Prof Ramu Manivannan, however, said Modi’s intention might have been to silence the strident voice of the DMK.

“Prime Minister Modi is capable of containing the opposition. He has been facing heat over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation at the national level. His surprise visit to meet the DMK chief may be to contain the voice of the opposition party here,” felt Manivannan, Head of Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras.
DMK working president M K Stalin has been a vocal critic of the policies of the Union government, particularly GST and demonetisation. In fact, the DMK is going to hold a State-wide (except in eight flood-hit districts) demonstration to protest against demonetisation.
Though it was an unscheduled visit, informed sources said the DMK leadership was tipped of it much earlier.