Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan meets Karunanidhi

Union Environment Minister and senior Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan on Friday met Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai, a day after he said his party would consult others on fielding a candidate in the Rajya Sabha biennial polls.

The meeting assumed significance as it came ahead of the June 27 Rajya Sabha polls to six seats from Tamil Nadu.

Natarajan told reporters that she met Karunanidhi to wish him as he turned 90 on June 3.

To a query on the Congress's stand on the Rajya Sabha polls, the environment minister said her party will decide on it.

DMK snapped its ties with the United Progressive Alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue in March.

Karunanidhi had on Thursday said the party would hold consultations with other political parties over fielding a candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.

Asked whether the DMK had sought the support of the Communist Party of India - Marxist, he said, "We have not sought the support of any particular party. We will talk to all parties."

Each candidate needs 34 first preference votes to win in the polls.

DMK, which has 23 Members of Legislative Assembly, needs the support of other parties if it wants to ensure the victory of its candidate. The Congress party has five MLAs in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which can win at least four of the seats in view of its strength of 151 in the 234-member assembly, has fielded five candidates.