This Article is From Feb 24, 2017

MK Stalin Meets Sonia Gandhi, Discusses Political Situation In Tamil Nadu

MK Stalin Meets Sonia Gandhi, Discusses Political Situation In Tamil Nadu

MK Stalin, Leader of Opposition in the assembly, had filed a plea seeking annulment of the trust vote.

New Delhi: DMK leader MK Stalin met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday and discussed the political situation in Tamil Nadu. A day before, he met President Pranab Mukherjee to submit a memorandum, apprising him of the events that took place in the Tamil Nadu assembly last week.

"It was a courtesy call. He enquired about her (Sonia Gandhi's) health. She asked about DMK chief M Karunanidhi's health condition. It was a formal discussion. They also discussed political situation in Tamil Nadu," said a DMK leader, adding that the meeting lasted 25 minutes.

The leader said it "was also a strategy call" as Stalin came here for the first time after becoming the Working President of DMK. The party is also an alliance partner of the Congress in the UPA.

"Yesterday (Thursday), around 7 pm, Mr Stalin met the President and gave him a memorandum on what happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly (on February 18)," the leader added.

Mr Stalin, who is also Leader of Opposition in the assembly, had filed a plea to seek annulment of the trust vote.

In his petition, the DMK leader sought the court's directions to assembly Speaker P Dhanapal to conduct the trust vote with a secret ballot under a monitoring committee comprising the Governor's Secretary, Chief Secretary and a senior official from the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court on Wednesday declined to pass any interim order to put on hold or annul the trust vote won by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and adjourned the case filed by Mr Stalin for February 27.

The court also ordered submission of the video footage of the happenings in the Tamil Nadu assembly on February 18, the day Mr Palaniswami sought and won the trust vote by securing 122 votes with only 11 against.

As a part of its multi-pronged attack on K Palaniswami's government and to protest events inside Tamil Nadu assembly, the DMK, under the leadership of Mr Stalin, also held a day-long hunger strike across the state.
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