Accusing the DMK of political indecency, DMDK deputy secretary L.K. Sudhish on Thursday said his party will finalise seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls with the AIADMK-led alliance in two days.
At a press conference at the party headquarters, Mr. Sudhish said the party leaders were aghast at the media reports that the party was holding talks with both the DMK and the AIADMK simultaneously on Wednesday.
A day earlier, DMK treasurer Durai Murugan had kicked up a storm by stating that two DMDK leaders had come to his house to hold seat-sharing talks with him. The two DMDK functionaries, Elangovan and Murugesan, who were at the press meet, insisted that they met the DMK leader only for personal reasons.
“From the beginning, the DMDK wanted to be part of the BJP-led alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. We were clearly told that the AIADMK would lead the alliance in the State and we began talks. The next day, the AIADMK signed a seat-sharing agreement with the PMK. We were disappointed. We expected the agreements to be signed with all allies simultaneously,” Mr. Sudhish said.
Then the DMK initiated the talks.
“We did hold talks with the DMK. There is nothing wrong for a party to hold talks in two different alliances. But that was about 10 days ago and not like what Mr. Durai Murugan claims,” the DMDK leader said.
‘Share stage with PM’
“As of now, the talks with the AIADMK were still on. It could not be concluded [on Wednesday] as Piyush Goyal had to attend the Prime Minister’s event. We will announce the number of seats and the name of the constituencies the DMDK will be contesting in, in two days,” Mr. Sudhish said. Asked about Mr. Durai Murugan’s remarks on the “backdoor” negotiations, he said he was from a disciplined party and would not reveal in open any electoral talks happening behind the scenes. “The talks are not dragging. In the next meeting the Prime Minister participates, we will share the stage,” he said.
Stating that he was a neighbour of Mr. Durai Murugan for several years, the DMDK leader said he could also reveal all the comments made by the DMK treasurer against his party leadership in public but refrained from commenting due to political decency.
