Congress panel deliberates on seat sharing with DMK
By IANSMonday, February 14, 2011
CHENNAI - The five-member Congress panel set up to discuss sharing of seats with its ally DMK continued to hear the views of its state unit officials Monday ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly polls.
The panel comprises of Tamil Nadu state Congress chief K.V.Thankabalu, union ministers P. Chidambaram and G.K.Vasan, Rajya Sabha member Jayanthi Natarajan and state assembly member Namakkal Jayakumar.
While Chidambaram was away in New Delhi, the other four members heard the views of the partys district level office bearers regarding the constituencies the party should contest in.
Contesting more number of seats and being part of the government if the DMK-Congress combine retained power were the common demands of the party officials.
The panel heard the views of its parliament and assembly members Sunday.
In the 2006 elections, the Congress contested 48 seats and won 35. The available indications are that the Congress would like to contest around 78 seats this time around - two seats per Lok Sabha constituency.
The state has 234 assembly constituencies.
According to party officials, after completing the discussions, the panel will start seat sharing talks with the DMK.
–Indo Asian News Service
