BYPOLL 20: Cong-DMK camp silent on seat-sharing for byelections

If sources in the state Congress are to be believed, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has already planned to contest three Assembly seats in the by-election. Of the 20 seats likely to go for polls, Sholingur is the only seat the Congress had contested in DMK alliance in 2016. Congress sources in the know told DT Next that state party chief Su Thirunavukkarasar has been prodded by his lieutenants to ‘demand’ Perambur and Tiruparankundram apart from Sholingur.

Surprisingly, a Congress leader said the TNCC president was planning to contest in Perambur, where NR Dhanpalan contested on behalf of the DMK. Curiously, the state Congress leadership has deemed it fit to keep the plans to itself given that the DMK has not showed even a trace of interest in holding talks with ally Congress.

A realistic Thirunavukkarasar, when asked, did not mind admitting that it was a wee bit early.

“Bypolls should be held for Tiruparankundram and Tiruvarur before February 2019. The other 18 seats have another six months. Also, we ought to wait to see if the disqualified MLAs move an appeal or face polls,” he told DT Next.

Asked if the party was eyeing seats like Perambur, Thirunavukkarasar said, “The DMK has contested the maximum number of seats in the alliance. We must discuss seat allocation with the DMK leaders. Our national high command is rightly focusing on five state polls. Neither our national leaders, nor the state Congress has got in touch with the DMK on the issue. We will discuss it with DMK at the right time.”

Meanwhile, a senior Congress leader requesting anonymity said that the AICC would not drive a hard bargain with the DMK, be it the by-election or Lok Sabha polls, belying the hopes of Congress who were already frustrated by the silence of the DMK, which has reiterated its commitment to face the Lok Sabha polls in the company of Congress many a time but has yet to break the ice.