A host of DMK leaders on Monday met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the latter’s official residence in the national capital. Those meeting Kejriwal included former union ministers Kanimozhi and A Raja. Also joining them were DMK President MK Stalin and TR Balu.
They DMK leaders gifted Kejriwal a shawl and reportedly discussed politics including the efforts to build an anti-BJP alliance ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The DMK leaders also reportedly asked Kejriwal to drop his adversarial stance towards Congress. “Don’t keep a negative stance against the Congress. The country needs a mahagatbandhan(grand alliance) and you have a role in it,” Stalin, accordingly to NDTV, reportedly told Kejriwal.
The DMK President, according to news agency ANI, also invited him for the inauguration ceremony of the statue of M Karunanidhi in Chennai.
Before forming his Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal had attacked the then corruption-tainted ministers including Raja during the country-wide agitation under the banner of India Against Corruption.
Last year, when a special court acquitted Raja in the 2G scam case, Kejriwal had tweeted, “2G scam is one of the biggest scams. It rocked the country n was one of the reasons for UPA’s downfall. Today everyone goes scot free. Did CBI mess up the case? Intentionally? People need answers.”
2G scam is one of the biggest scams. It rocked the country n was one of the reasons for UPA’s downfall. Today everyone goes scot free. Did CBI mess up the case? Intentionally? People need answers
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 21, 2017
Monday’s meeting assumes significance in light of Congress President Rahul Gandhi showing reluctance to share stage with Kejriwal in the past. Kejriwal’s party, the AAP, wasn’t pleased after Rahul Gandhi refused to share the stage with the Delhi chief minister during a protest, organised by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Delhi in August this year.
Last year, the AAP had refused to support the opposition candidate for the vVice President’s election until Gandhi reached out to Kejriwal for support. The Congress president, who was believed to have faced a stiff opposition from Delhi unit’s Congress chief Ajay Maken, had decided not to call Kejriwal.
