The seat-sharing talks between the DMK and the Congress in New Delhi for the Lok Sabha election could not be concluded on Monday because the two sides could not agree on the allotment of constituencies.
In a related development, DMK sources said the PMK will not be part of its alliance, since it is believed to have struck a deal with the ruling AIADMK-BJP front. This has come as a relief to the VCK, which does not want to join any front comprising the PMK.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi is learnt to have informed Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Mukul Wasnik about her party’s position.
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While the Congress is demanding 11 seats — 10 in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat — the DMK is unwilling to part with more than 9 seats.
Even if the Congress agrees to contest in 10 seats — 9 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry — the DMK will find it difficult to accede to the demand as it wants to contest in at least 25 seats as the leader of the alliance. But the Congress is hoping that with the PMK set to join the AIADMK alliance, it could take advantage of the situation to insist on its demand for 11 seats.
Congress leaders, including TNCC president K.S. Alagiri, who are in Delhi, had a discussion on the seats where the party’s prospects are high.
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“We are not identifying seats keeping any particular candidate in mind. Preference will be given to those who polled more votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when the party contested alone,” said a senior leader.
List of allies
The DMK-Congress front is expected to have seven other allies – the two Left parties, the MDMK, the IUML, the VCK, the MMK and one Kongu party.
Ms. Kanimozhi refused to comment on the seat sharing formula that the two sides may have agreed to. Sources said a formula will be arrived at in the next few days.
Sources said the DMK had asked the Congress to be generous to ensure that all the allies get their fair share.
“The CPI, CPI(M), VCK and MDMK have demanded two seats each. And since this is the only State where we will be fighting, we cannot compromise on the number of seats,” a senior DMK leader said.
(With inputs from Shobana K. Nair and Sandeep Phukan in New Delhi)