DMK, Congress to hold seat sharing talks Sunday
By IANSSaturday, February 19, 2011
CHENNAI - Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK and its major ally Congress will hold crucial seat sharing talks here Sunday ahead of the ensuing assembly elections in the state.
In a statement here, head of the Congress’ state unit K.V. Thankabalu said the seat sharing discussions will be held at the DMK’s headquarters.
Following DMK chief and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Jan 31, both parties have set up a committee to discuss the seat sharing.
The Congress panel comprises of Thankabalu, union ministers P. Chidambaram and G.K. Vasan, Rajya Sabha member Jayanthi Natarajan and state assembly member Namakkal Jayakumar.
The DMK panel will have on it Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, union ministers M.K. Alagiri, Dayanidhi Maran, state ministers Arcot N. Veeraswamy, Durai Murugan, K. Ponmudi and Lok Sabha member T.R. Baalu.
The DMK and the PMK Friday signed an agreement to jointly fight the assembly elections, with the PMK being allotted 31 seats.
Earlier, the Congress panel met party members from the state in parliament and the state assembly, leaders at the district level and youth wing and heard their views.
The DMK panel is expected to have a tough time in negotiating with the Congress as it is expecting a major jump in the numbers of seats allotted to it.
The Congress cadres want a larger slice of the seats and a share in the government if the DMK-Congress combine retains power.
The Tamil Nadu assembly has 99 DMK members, 57 from AIADMK, 34 from the Congress and 18 from PMK. The house also has 15 Communist legislators and three members from the MDMK.
