Congress Wants DMK To Start Seat-Sharing Talk
The Congress leaders from the State, including district presidents, who were called to New Delhi to brief top leaders including Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Maligarjun Kharge about the state of the alliance in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday told the media that they would urge the DMK to begin the stalled negotiations.
Chennai: After huffing and puffing over the continuation of the alliance with the DMK by putting out several messages on X, raising demands for power sharing and more seats and issuing a veiled threat of breaking free and joining hands with the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), the State honchos of the Congress said on Tuesday that they would be calling on Chief Minister M K Stalin to urge him to start the talks.
The Congress leaders from the State, including district presidents, who were called to New Delhi to brief top leaders including Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Maligarjun Kharge about the state of the alliance in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday told the media that they would urge the DMK to begin the stalled negotiations.
AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar complained that the DMK had not formed the committee to hold talks with the Congress panel headed by him though 70 days had lapsed causing much agony to the party workers.
He said that seat-sharing talks should begin at the earliest as delaying them would cause needless complications as it had happened in the past in other States like Bihar, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, where due to last minute negotiations on seat-sharing the party could not concentrate on election related work.
TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said that party cadre were agonizing over the delay in the starting of talks between the two allies and that the impasse had caused confusion. Congress leaders would call on Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday, he said.
DMK sources said that the talks could not be carried out with the Congress because its leaders were insisting on certain things that the DMK would not be able to give. Besides 43 seats and 3 ministerial berths are among the demands that include power in Puducherry and Rajya Sabha nominations.
Since some Congress leaders, particularly MPs, had put out messages openly attacking the DMK, many grassroots level workers were angry and expressed the view that giving in to the demands of the Congress leaders would not do any good.
The DMK’s recent efforts to win Puducherry union territory by roping in the other allies of the Secular Democratic alliance with S Jagathrakshan aspiring to become the Chief Minister could also turn out to be a thorn in the flesh of the seat-sharing negotiations that the Congress leader want to start immediately.