Asking for more seats and getting a share in power were the two major points raised by various leaders of the Congress, as the party began deliberations here on Sunday to elicit the views of partymen, ahead of seat-sharing talks with alliance leader Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
The five-member panel, comprising Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan and K. Jayakumar, MLA, constituted to hold talks with the DMK, met for the first time at Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the TNCC headquarters.
In a bid to elicit the views of partymen, it met all the Members of the Legislative Assembly, Members of Parliament and also past and present MLAs and MPs.
Mr. Thangkabalu, who spoke to the media after all the five members called on Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence this afternoon, described it as a “courtesy call” and explained that they were meeting him because “he is the leader of our alliance”.
He also said the discussions with District Congress Committee presidents and other leaders would continue on Monday also. He refused to respond to any further questions, except for saying, “We will discuss seat-sharing with the DMK later.”
Sathyamurthy Bhavan was buzzing with activity since morning as the partymen made a beeline to attend the consultations. “For the first time, we feel we have a say in the seat-sharing exercise,” said a partyman.
Meanwhile, R.M. Palanichamy, MLA, representing Modakurichi, and a confidante of former TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan, (who has been vocal against the DMK government in the State) told presspersons that he had registered his protest with the five-member panel for excluding Mr. Elangovan from the committee.
“He (Elangovan) is one who voices the real feelings of the partymen without any fear. I have all respect for the panel constituted by the high command. But all that I wanted to do was to request the high command to reconsider its decision and include not only Mr. Elangovan but also two other senior leaders S.R. Balasubramanian and D.Yasodha.” He also said his views were in no way opposed to the party's alliance with the DMK because it had already been announced by the high command.
An MP, who did not want to be quoted, said partymen were determined to seek at least two Assembly seats per parliamentary constituency this time. Besides, they were not ready to let go of a chance to seek some berths in the State Ministry. “Of course, some of us have expressed apprehensions over the DMK's image, which has suffered a dent due to the 2G spectrum issue,” he added.
