DMK allots three seats to Indian Union Muslim League

CHENNAI - The DMK Saturday inked a seat-sharing deal with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for the ensuing Tamil Nadu assembly polls, taking the total number of such deals to two.

Representatives of both the parties met at DMK’s headquarters here Saturday and arrived at a deal whereby IUML will contest from three constituencies.

The DMK had earlier entered into an agreement with PMK for 31 seats.

Meanwhile, DMK’s seat sharing talks with its major ally Congress remained inconclusive after the second round Friday.

“We have put forward several proposals. I am not in a position to say what they are. Once the talks fructify, we will announce the details,” Tamil Nadu Congress chief K.V. Thangkabalu told IANS.

He declined to confirm or deny whether Congress is seeking a share in power if the alliance is voted back to power, and if it wants a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and around 80 seats to contest in the ensuing polls.

According to DMK leaders, the party is not agreeing for pre-poll agreement on power sharing and is willing to part with only 53 seats for the Congress as it has to accommodate few more parties into its fold.

Further, the DMK on its own should contest from at least 130 seats so as to have a chance of securing majority on its own in the 234 member Tamil Nadu assembly.

For the past five years, AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa has been calling the DMK government a “minority DMK government”, irking the ruling party that has 99 members in the house and is supported by allies like Congress and VCK.

With 34 seats gone — 31 to PMK and three to IUML — there are 200 seats to be shared amongst DMK, Congress, VCK and few other parties.