Stick to alliance deal, sanction us one Rajya Sabha seat, Premalatha tells ruling party

“The AIADMK assured us of a Rajya Sabha seat during the alliance talks, held during the Parliamentary elections of 2019. We hope that the ruling party will stand by its words,” said DMDK Treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant at Chennai airport on Wednesday.

After the election for six Rajya Sabha seats from the state was notified by the Election Commission, seniors in both DMK and AIADMK camps have commenced their lobbying to bag the seats. According to EC data, the DMK and the AIADMK will elect three MPs each from their camps.

The confidence of DMDK in getting a Rajya Sabha seat stems from the fact that PMK, one of the allies of AIADMK, was given a Rajya Sabha seat as promised in the alliance talks. The DMDK has already commenced the talks for the Rajya Sabha seat, said party sources.

However, in case of AIADMK refusing a seat for the DMDK, she indirectly threatened to break away from the alliance. “We still maintain alliance ethics and stay in the alliance. We also expect AIADMK to maintain the same alliance ethics,” said Premalatha.

However, the AIADMK sources said that DMDK is highly unlikely to get a Rajya Sabha seat. “In case of PMK, they have a solid vote base and their votes have helped the AIADMK retain the rule by winning nine seats in the Assembly elections, but in case of the DMDK the contribution for the alliance is very less and their vote share has been dwindling continuously,” said AIADMK sources.

When Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was asked about the aspirations of DMDK in getting a Rajya Sabha seat, he replied that any decision on allotting Rajya Sabha seat will be decided by the party high command.