MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday said the DMK offered his party a Rajya Sabha seat without him making any formal request for it.
Asked whether he was happy with the single Lok Sabha seat allotted to his party by the DMK, Mr. Vaiko said the value of a Rajya Sabha seat was very high since 34 MLAs had to vote to elect a person to the Rajya Sabha.
“A Lok Sabha constituency covers six Assembly constituencies. If you keep the figure in your mind, MLAs in six Lok Sabha constituencies have to vote for a Rajya Sabha seat,” he told reporters on the occasion of the general council of the party.
He said the general council unanimously accepted the seat-sharing agreement with the DMK.
‘Bitter feelings’
Reminded about his stringent criticism against the DMK and its president M.K. Stalin, Mr. Vaiko said though there were “bitter feelings” between them in the past, the MDMK had decided to throw its weight behind the DMK to protect the Dravidian movement.
He said the party had not taken any decision on contesting in the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol but acknowledged the request made by the DMK leadership. Expressing hope that the DMK alliance would win all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Mr. Vaiko said the 50,000 booth committees formed by his party across the State would strengthen the DMK in the election.
Accusing the BJP of betraying the interest of Tamil Nadu and Tamils, he said the decision of the Tamil Nadu Governor to send the proposal for releasing seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to the Union Home Ministry was against democracy.
“There is no need to send it to the Home Ministry after the State cabinet took a decision following the order of the Supreme Court. It is not clear whether the Governor sent it on his own or as advised by the AIADMK government,” he said.
