BJP’s demands delay seat sharing deal with AIADMK

CHENNAI: After the threehour marathon talks over seat-sharing between the top leaders of the AIADMK and the BJP late on Sunday failed to produce results, senior leader, including ministers SP Velumani, P Thangamani and party coordinator R Vaithilingam, resumed talks with State BJP leaders L Murugan, Pon Radhakrishnan and Annamalai on Monday night.

According to reliable sources, three contentious issues came up during the talks on Sunday that led to the stalemate. They include the BJP’s demand for more than 30 Assembly tickets, the merger of AIADMK and AMMK, which BJP is allegedly pushing for, and the saffron party’s request for contesting in key constituencies from western districts that are the traditional stronghold of the ruling party.

Sources said that the BJP is keen on getting on at least 10 seats from the western region comprising Coimbatore, Salem

and Tirupur, which has upset the AIADMK camp.

However, Murugan, who accompanied Amit Shah during the alliance, denied on Tuesday that the talks were dragging. “The talks are progressing and are going in the correct direction,” he said.

When asked about the number of seats the saffron party has been demanding, Murugan

refused to divulge the details maintaining that the list of seats will be announced in a couple of days.On similar lines, AIADMK spokesperson V Pughazendi said that the alliance talks were progressing fine without any roadblock. “The seat-sharing details will be finalised in a day or two,” AIADMK spokesperson V Pughazendi told DT Next.