Chennai: Foreseeing bright winning chances in the city which was devastated by floods in December last, the DMK and Congress are haggling over sharing of seats in Chennai for the May 16 Assembly elections.
There is already a wrangling of seats in the capital within DMK functionaries who are hopeful of cashing in on the perceived resentment of people over flood relief works and rescue operations of the State government. The same situation prevails in Congress too with many leaders preferring Chennai to other districts.
Actor and DMDK leader Vijayakanth’s refusal to join DMK-front has not dented the optimism of DMK and Congress leaders in the capital. They feel the DMDK-PWA alliance could not split too many votes in the city and it will be a straight contest between the traditional rivals, AIADMK and DMK. The DMK functionaries are hopeful of winning in Kolathur, Villivakkam, Thiru.Vi.Ka, Nagar, Egmore, Harbour, Chepauk-Tiruvallikkeni, Thousand Lights, Anna Nagar, Saidapet, T. Nagar and Mylapore as winnable seats.
The Congress seeks four to five seats in the city, while the DMK is prepared to give one or two constituencies, Congress sources said. There is no quarrel for the Kolathur seat since DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin is certain to enter the race from the constituency which too was affected by the December floods. But, there is a high demand for neighbouring Thiru.Vi. Ka. Nagar constituency, which too was severely inundated.
The DMK is likely to allocate Royapuram seat to its main ally, but unlikely to concede the demand for Anna Nagar, which was one of the seats contested by party leader M. Karunanidhi twice. The DMK is thinking of fielding headquarters secretary Ku. Ka. Selvam in T, Nagar, which is also in high demand from Congress. The national party is also seeking Mylapore constituency to accommodate Kushbu, national spokesperson and actor. Congress leaders ‘Karate’ Thiyagarajan and A. Chellakumar could be allocated Anna Nagar and T. Nagar if the DMK consents to give the seats to its ally.
