The first round of official-level talks between the Congress and the DMK for the April 13 polls for the 30-member Legislative Assembly began here on Saturday.
Talks started in the morning at the Pradesh Congress Committee office. The core committee of both the parties met for another round of discussion after a break.
Leaders from both the Congress and the DMK said that it was only a preliminary discussion, which centred on the number of seats each party should contest. It was learnt that the Congress expressed its interest to contest more than 16 seats it contested in 2006.
The DMK has sought more than 11 it contested in the last Assembly elections. The talks would continue for a few more days and a final decision taken by the Congress high command and the DMK leadership in Tamil Nadu, a PCC office-bearer told The Hindu .
While the Congress was represented by Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy, Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam, and PCC chief A.V. Subramanian, the DMK was represented by former Chief Minister R.V. Janakiraman, MLAs A.M.H. Nazeem, S.P. Sivakumar and M.A.S. Subramanian.
