AIADMK-BJP Finalizes Deal, DMK Dithers

Chennai: The NDA, led by the BJP and the AIADMK, finalized its seat sharing agreement with some of the top allies on Monday with Union Minister Piyush Goyal facilitating the negotiations and putting an end to the impasse over it.

Besides giving 27 seats to the BJP, 18 to the PMK faction led by the PMK and 11 to the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam of T T V Dinakaran, the AIADMK would give two seats each to Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam of John Pandian and the India Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) of Parivendhar with the candidates contesting in the ‘two leaves’ symbol.

The Puthiya Needhi Katchi of A C Shanmugham would contest in the Lotus symbol of the BJP and the other smaller allies would either pick the two leaves or lotus after the agreement was finalized, the leaders said after holding the final talks at MGR Maligai, the AIADMK headquarters in Lloyds Road.

In the rival DMK coalition camp, the CPM at last agreed to accept the five seats that was offered to the party on the lines of the CPI that had already signed the deal, even as the VCK was demanding seats on par with the DMDK, a new entrant in the coalition.

The DMDK, on its part, was demanding 10 seats when the DMK had offered 8 seats apart from the Rajya Sabha nomination that had been given already as part of the deal.

Earlier in the day, the indecisiveness of the CPM leaders was delaying the finalization of the seat-sharing with the clock ticking on the filing of nominations that start on March 30 to go on till April 6. But later in the day, the CPM State secretary P Shanmugham signed the agreement with the DMK president M K Stalin.

For the Puducherry Union Territory, where the nominations closed on Monday, aspirants were asked to file papers as they could be withdrawn if the constituency was allotted to an ally. As of now the Secular Progressive alliance has decided to allot 16 seats to the Congress, 12 to the DMK, one to the VCK and one to the CPI after the CPM decided to plow a lonely furrow.

Though the numbers were finalized on Monday, the identification of the constituencies would be done soon before the withdrawal of nominations on March 26 for the elections on April 9.

The visit of Piyush Goyal to Chennai to finalise the seat sharing arrangement took the wind out of the DMK’s allegation of the elections being fought between Tamil Nadu and Delhi as the negotiations were earlier being held in New Delhi at the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.