Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi launched a book by ace lyricist Vairamuthu on Sunday. The Chief Minister attended the launch function even without receiving the Prime Minister who was on a state visit.  “I had to go to the airport to receive the Prime Minister, this is part of the protocol, but I came here because I wanted to honour a poet.”, the chief minister was quoted as saying. Though the decision of Mr Karunanidhi to attend the launch function without receiving the prime minister has sparked up a controversy, the chief minister explained that it was out of his respect for the tamil language and tamil poets that he attended the launch function.