Rahul skips meeting Karuna, DMK miffed

Chennai

Sept. 10: In the midst of his whirlwind tour of Tamil Nadu, the AICC general secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday called on the Governor, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, at the Raj Bhavan.
Nothing unusual about it, but then the “courtesy call” only ended up irritating further the ruling DMK camp, already nursing the grouse that the Congress general secretary did not observe the usual AICC “protocol” of visiting Mr Karunanidhi, even though he spent three days in the state.
Announcing Mr Gandhi’s “courtesy call” on Mr Barnala, his secretary said in a statement that the Governor presented the Congress leader with a shawl and a copy of his books My Tryst With Freedom and My Other Two Daughters.
To those DMK functionaries sulking that Mr Gandhi did not personally pay his respects to their Thalaivar, the statement and the shawl-pictures from the Raj Bhavan caused further aggravation. Some could even see “a design, a clear message,” in what the Congress prince did on his TN trip.
“He met the Governor only to clear doubts in the public mind that he skipped meeting Thalaivar only because he was too busy and hard-pressed for time. We must take this insult as a challenge thrown at us,” said a DMK functionary.
Source:: DECCAN CHRONICLE