No consensus yet as Cong seeks 30, but DMK firm on 20
CHENNAI: The seat-sharing talks in the DMK – Congress meeting hit a roadblock as the two parties failed to reach a consensus in the second round of negotiation held at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam on Tuesday evening.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president KS Alagiri and Congress legislature party leader KR Ramasamy emerged from the discussion with the DMK team and told media persons that the talks progressed smoothly and victoriously. On the finalised numbers, he said the deal would be sealed in a day or two. DMK was learnt to have stood its ground around 20 seats during Tuesday’s talks, while Congress reduced its demand to around 30 seats.
DMK sources privy to the talks confirmed that the party high command was adamant on the 20 seat offer and only a few Congress members were pushing for 40 seats, while most of the congress leaders in the State were willing to settle for less than 30. Refusing to accept that the talks were getting delayed, Alagiri said, “There is no delay. Talks are going on. Consensus has been largely reached. We will finalise it tomorrow or the day after. There is no third round. Everything has been spoken.”
Asked about the inability to reach consensus after the second round of negotiation, Alagiri wondered what did Union Home Minister Amit shah achieve after speaking with AIADMK leaders, and clarified that high-level Congress leaders would come and they would finalise the numbers themselves with the DMK. He also added that they (DMK) have applicants’ interviews too and they too should talk to their leaders, like we do with ours. On reports suggesting that DMK was planning to contest in 180 seats on its own, the he said, “We don’t know how many seats the party is contesting. They are very friendly. A party will decide only the seats it wants to contest. We are only concerned about the seats we contest.”A senior Congress leader, who confirmed the standoff, said, “We should only explore going it alone if the allotment is too low.”
CHENNAI: The first round of seat sharing talks between the DMK and the two Left parties ended inconclusively on Tuesday with either side refusing to concede.
The alliance leader DMK was understood to have offered six seats each to the CPI and CPM. However, the Left parties, which expected at least double digit representation, had returned disappointed.
Seat sharing team of CPI led by its Tirupur MP K Subbarayan said the talks were cordial and it would continue.
A disappointed CPM delegation comprising its state secretary K Balakrishnan, former secretary G Ramakrishnan and CITU leader A Subramaniam went in to a huddle at its state party headquarters where party state executive was urgently convened to discuss the offer of the DMK.
Emerging out of the state executive committee meeting, Balakrishnan said that they have had just one round of negotiation and would discuss further with the DMK.
CPM sources privy to the talks revealed that they had sought 15 seats and they would settle for a ‘respectable’ allotment. A DMK source confirmed the 15 seat opening demand of the Marxists and said the DMK negotiators had stuck to their six seat offer and they could improve the offer by up to two seats, if party president MK Stalin agrees.
If sources in both parties are to be believed, the talks with the Left parties might hinge on offer to the Congress party as sources in CPM and CPI agree that the talks could be resumed after the Dravidian party clinches the deal with the Congress, which was urgently invited for the second round of talks on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule..
CPM and CPI had contested in 13 and 10 assembly seats each in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance in 2006 and won nine and six seats respectively.
In 2011 assembly polls, the Left parties contested in the AIADMK-led alliance. CPM won 10 out of the 12 seats while CPI emerged victorious in nine out of the 10 seats.
In 2016 assembly polls, the Left parties contested 25 seats each as part of the People's Welfare Alliance and drew a blank.
CPM sources privy to the talks revealed that they had sought 15 seats and they would settle for a ‘respectable’ allotment