With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh directing the Tamil Nadu unit of the party to complete all alliance talks within a week’s time, seat-sharing exercise is expected to gather pace in the coming days.
When a team of senior Tamil Nadu BJP leaders Pon Radhakrishnan, L. Ganesan and S. Mohanrajulu met Mr. Singh in Delhi on Friday evening, he had insisted on completing the talks with the allies quickly.
A highly placed source said Mr. Singh was apprised of the political situation in Tamil Nadu as well as the status of talks with potential allies-DMDK, PMK and MDMK.
Mr. Singh had told the Tamil Nadu leaders that the Election Commission was expected to announce the date of Lok Sabha polls in the coming week and Tamil Nadu would go to polls in the first phase itself.
Speaking to The Hindu over the phone, Mr. Ganesan confirmed that Mr. Singh wanted the alliance to be finalised “as soon as possible.”
Asked if an electoral pact had been sealed with the PMK, DMDK and MDMK, he said the talks were on with the allies and even though there were some issues in seat sharing.
“This is common to all alliances. There is nothing peculiar here. The talks are progressing,” he said.
Asked if the BJP was also in touch with the DMK, Mr.Ganesan said, “We never wanted to align with the DMK nor have plans to do it now. Such reports are wrong,” he pointed out.
