Congress leaders to meet Karunanidhi for seat-sharing talks this week

Chennai: Senior Congress leaders, including former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, will hold seat-sharing talks with DMK President M Karunanidhi in a "day or two" for the coming assembly elections, TNCC President E V K S Elangovan said.

"Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mukul Wasnik will meet Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) in a day or two and hold talks regarding the number of constituencies (the party wants to contest)," he told reporters here.

After parting ways in 2013 over the vexed Sri Lankan Tamils issue, old allies DMK and Congress revived their alliance last month to face the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Azad and Wasnik had then also met Karunanidhi to formalise ties saying that seat-sharing talks will be held later. The two had fought the 2011 Assembly polls as allies but DMK won just 23 seats and Congress five.

Puducherry PCC President A Namasivayam has last week said a decision on seat sharing between Congress and DMK for the 30-member union territory assembly would be taken shortly after talks by the AICC leaders with Karunanidhi.