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Defence Minister and Samata Party president George Fernandes called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Chennai on Thursday.
The meeting comes three years after Fernandes, as the convenor of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, had made peace overtures to the then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ally.
The rancour of the past, if any, was not visible in the meeting.
Fernandes' tête-à-tête with Jaya comes after his party revived its reservations on the divestment front and reiterated its decision to go alone in the Gujarat assembly election.
The defence minister, though, described the meeting as a courtesy call.
The meeting also comes two months after the Tamil Nadu chief minister mooted a third front at the national level.
The Samata Party had giving indications of feeling uncomfortable in the company of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the light of the Gujarat violence and the economic reforms.
Fernandes is also believed to have taken up the case of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko, who has been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for more than three months.
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