SALEM: Kicking off another wave of speculations DMK’s Madurai ‘strong man’ M K Alagiri called on ‘Selathu Singam’ Veerpandi S Arumugam at his residence on Thursday, a day after the later came out of a three-day custodial inquiry.Although both the leaders termed it as a courtesy call, political pundits view it as a new equation between the old and the new guards within the party. Alagiri arrived at about 11.15 am and remained closeted with Veerapandi S Arumugam for nearly an hour. Even his personal assistants and senior aides kept away from the room. Both the leaders were tight-lipped over the issues that figured during their meeting. Emerging out of the meeting, Alagiri told reporters that he came to enquire about Arumugam’s health. On the land grab cases against the DMK leaders and former ministers, Alagiri said that the issue was discussed at the party’s general council and ‘we will act as per the decisions taken.’Veerpandi Arumugam said Alagiri’s visit was a courtesy call. “There is a concern among the DMK leaders that the AIADMK government may instigate the police to file fresh FIRs. Out of such concern and the three days of custodial inquiry, even Karunanidhi kept calling over phone time to time. He was concerned about the police treatment and also my health,” said Arumugam. To a question whether the personal attacks he made on Jayalalitha at a press meet during the last assembly election campaign that the AIADMK government was acting tough against him, Arumugam said he did not make any personal attacks on Jayalalithaa. “I only made statement about her party’s attacking the DMK during the campaign when its own leader was facing disproportionate wealth case and tainted in the TANSI land grab issue. We even complained to the Collector about the AIADMK’s violation of the code of conduct. But a section of the media and AIADMK supporters blew it out of proportion,” Arumugam said.As regards the land grab cases, Arumugam said that cases of civil nature were being arbitrarily being added with criminal sections. False charges of intimidation was being made against DMK leaders and ex-ministers. All these, he termed, as an attempt to weaken the DMK. As for the political significance of Alagiri-Arumugam meeting, it has become clear that in the post-Karunanidhi DMK, Arumugam and Alagiri will have a strategic understanding. Significantly none of Stalin’s supporters could neither be seen here during Arumugam’s custodial inquiry.
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