The ruling DMK has initiated formal seat-sharing negotiations with its allies ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with senior Congress leader K C Venugopal meeting Chief Minister M K Stalin in Chennai on Sunday, sources said.
The nearly 45-minute meeting at Stalin’s Alwarpet residence is being viewed as an attempt to ease recent tensions between the two allies as negotiations over seat allocation gather momentum.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee said Venugopal conveyed the party’s expectations regarding the number of constituencies it intends to contest and discussed potential seats during the meeting. Deputy Chief Minister Kanimozhi and senior Congress leader T S Singh Deo were also present at the meeting.
The interaction follows the recent engagement between Kanimozhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, where preliminary discussions on alliance coordination and seat sharing were held.
While the meeting helped break the ice between the allies after weeks of friction, sources indicated that talks remained inconclusive.
CONGRESS SEEKS BIGGER SHARE THAN 2021
According to alliance insiders, the Congress has demanded a higher number of seats than it contested in the 2021 Assembly elections, when it was allotted 25 constituencies as part of the DMK-led alliance.
However, DMK leaders have indicated that the party is inclined to allocate around 27-28 seats to the Congress this time, citing the need to accommodate multiple alliance partners within the coalition framework.
DMK SETS TERMS FOR NEGOTIATIONS
Sources said the DMK leadership also conveyed that future negotiations would proceed only through designated interlocutors, making it clear that it would not engage with leaders it holds responsible for earlier alliance disagreements.
The discussions come amid demands from sections of the state Congress unit seeking a share in governance, a proposal Stalin has publicly ruled out, stating that such arrangements would not suit Tamil Nadu’s political structure.
Sources said the DMK leadership made it clear that future negotiations would proceed only through designated interlocutors and that it would not engage with Congress leader Girish Chodankar, whom it holds responsible for earlier alliance friction between the two parties.
TALKS WITH OTHER ALLIES UNDERWAY
Earlier in the day, the DMK began discussions with long-time ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which sought five seats, while the ruling party reportedly offered two in view of accommodating other partners.
Sources added that the DMK is expected to hold further rounds of seat-sharing talks with allies including the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in the coming days.
The DMK leads the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu, whose constituents include the Congress, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), Left parties and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), with negotiations expected to intensify as the coalition moves towards finalising seat allocations for the polls.
With PTI inputs
