Polls, pending funds figure in EPS, Shah 90-min meeting

The Chief Minister is expected to meet Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday to formally invite him to inaugurate the memorial of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and lay the foundation stone for Cauvery-Gundar river interlinking project.

Minister Jayakumar, while addressing the media before boarding the flight, said that the meeting with the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister was for the development of the State. However, AIADMK sources said that Palaniswami discussed the release of VK Sasikala with Amit Shah during the meeting. "Chief Minister discussed the release of VK Sasikala and expressed his displeasure of bringing back Sasikala into AIADMK. Chief Minister also discussed seat sharing between AIADMK and BJP," said a source privy to the meeting.

With Sasikala expected to be released on January 27, there has been a rumble both in the AIADMK and AMMK with supporters voicing their opinions in public.

Recently, RSS sympathiser S Gurumurthy also expressed his opinion that AIADMK should accommodate Sasikala to win the upcoming Assembly election. Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, in a virtual meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, held discussions about the interim budget to be presented before the announcement of election dates.