TNCC chief in Delhi to smoothen deadlocked DMK-Cong seat talks
While the DMK has invited its other partners for the second round of talks, the Congress is yet to visit Anna Arivalayam for reviving the talks, which hit the cul de sac.
K Selvaperunthagai
CHENNAI: Leaders of the state Congress led by its Tamil Nadu president K Selvaperunthagai have camped in the AICC headquarters in the national capital as seat sharing negotiations with the DMK remain deadlocked.
According to reliable Congress sources, the TNCC chief on Tuesday briefed AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge about the offer of the DMK, which is understood to have reduced the offer to the national party to eight seats, including Puducherry. It has been around three weeks since the DMK and Congress held the first round of talks.
While the DMK has invited its other partners for the second round of talks, the Congress is yet to visit Anna Arivalayam for reviving the talks, which hit the cul de sac.
A senior state Congress leader told DT Next on condition of anonymity that the numbers, plus or minus one or two seats, should not be the reason for breaking the ties. “We asked for a couple of seats more than the existing tally of 10 seats.
The DMK offered eight seats, including Puducherry. That is the reason why the talks have been dragging on since the first round was held over three weeks ago. A settlement will be reached in a few days,” said the Congress senior unwilling to be quoted.
Like the numbers, a few seats have also been delaying the pact. “We learnt that the MDMK is pushing hard for Tiruchy seat, which is being held by our former president Su Thirunavukkarasar. Thirunavukkarasar considered Ramanathapuram as a viable alternative, but the DMK has already allotted the seat to IUML. We have also included Tirunelveli, a sitting seat of the DMK, in the wish list. Such clash of constituencies has been delaying the deal in the entire alliance altogether,” said another Congress senior on condition of anonymity.
A senior DMK functionary disclosed that the party leadership was unwilling to apportion more than eight and it could increase the offer by one seat to avoid the Congress sulking during the poll campaign. The DMK senior conceded that the pacts would be signed before the end of the week.
Meanwhile, he urged the state police to conduct a thorough probe into the mysterious death of a Dalit agricultural labourer Prabhakaran (25) at Orathanadu in Thanjavur.