I-PAC’s arithmetic may upset partners in DMK alliance

It has been learnt that Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC has proposed a significant reduction in the seat tally of allies for the ensuing Assembly polls. 

DMK sources say the issue was discussed in a recent meeting between the DMK top brass and the representatives of the I-PAC. Though sources did not confirm the participation of the analyst or timing of the meeting, which is said to have happened in a neutral venue, I-PAC had likely advised the DMK helm against being generous with allies’ vis-à-vis seat allotment this time. 

The analyst, unsurprisingly, was told to have presented stats to explain how the allies had cost the Dravidian party during the 2016 election with Congress securing a strike rate of a meagre 20 per cent. The Congress had managed to win only 8 of the 41 seats it was allotted in 2016, while the DMK managed to win around half of the seats it had contested. 

A party source privy to the development told DT Next that the poll analyst had warned the DMK high command that the ruling AIADMK led alliance was again targeting the seats of DMK’s allies, as it did in the last Assembly election. The buzz in even Congress circles was that the Dravidian partner would not be generous owing to the sheer number of parties in the alliance and liberal seat allocation formula the regional party had adopted in last year’s Lok Sabha election apart from their poor strike rate in the previous election. 

A Congress leader unwilling to be named said that they were aware of DMK mulling two or three seats per Parliamentary seat. However, he quickly added that the scenario would change in a few months as parties get to the negotiation table close to the election. The Congress leader also said that such reports could be floated deliberately by the DMK to test the mindset of allies.