TN CM invites Modi for Jaya, MGR functions

New Delhi, May 24: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and is understood to have discussed the political situation in the state in the wake of the split in the AIADMK following Jayalalithaa's death.

The meeting came close on the heels of the meeting former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had with Modi here last week.

Both the meetings assume significance in view of the BJP's efforts to garner maximum support for the NDA candidate in the upcoming Presidential election due in July. The chief minister's faction in the AIADMK enjoys the support of 122 MLAs in the 134-member Assembly while the Panneerselvam factions has 12 MLAs. Similarly, the Parliamentary Party with over 50 MPs is divided between the two factions with the Chief Minister's faction having a majority.

Both the factions have not made public their stand on the Presidential election but both of them are said to be inclined to support an NDA candidate.

Replying to reporters' questions including whether his faction would have a tie up with the BJP in the coming local bodies elections, Palaniswamy said nothing political was discussed with the Prime Minister.

He said he has invited Modi to participate in a function in which Jayalalithaa's portrait is to be opened in the state Assembly and in the grand final celebrations of MGR's birth centenary being scheduled in December in Chennai.