Karti's associate Bhaskararaman, after discussion with P Chidambaram, demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh for ensuring the approval." 

P Chidambaram had reacted to the searches and said that the timing of the search is interesting. He also cited that the search team has found nothing in the search at his residence in Chennai. 

The raids have come as trouble for P Chidambaram when he has been eyeing to win a Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu in the upcoming polls. 

The two other DMK members - TKS Elangovan and RS Bharathi won't be given another term and to replace them, MK Stalin has named two new candidates.

Thomas had served as the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution under the Manmohan Singh rule from 2011 to 2014. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote, "The news of the passing away of senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Pandit Sukh Ram Ji is extremely sad."

The war of words between both the parties had also brought in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's uninvited visit to Pakistan during his first tenure. 

The development has come when Congress was expecting Kishor to play a role in reviving the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

In his public message, he also had expressed his opinion to the party's leadership, advocating for fixing the internal crisis through transformational reforms. 

Besides his prominent Governorship, Sankaranarayanan had served as an MLA four times in Kerala and had held finance, excise, and agriculture portfolios in various governments of Kerala.