Cong ‘Look South’ Policy On Seats To Pose Problems In DMK Front
The MDMK under Vaiko prefers the Madurai South, Sattur, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai constituencies.
CHENNAI: Seat identification for the DMK in the southern districts is expected to pose problems for the alliance since most of the seats sought by its major ally, the Congress, falls in the region. After conceding 28 seats to the national ally, it is to be seen if the other parties, given a few seats, get their preferred constituencies or the national ally is given more importance in this process also.
The Congress, which obtained 28 seats after much wrangling in public, has submitted a list of preferred seats for identification process. The party has sought 16 constituencies from the southern districts including Killiyur, Vilavancode, Srivaikuntam, Colachel, Padmanabhapuram, Virudhunagar, Alangulam, Karaikudi, Ramanathapuram, Tenkasi, Madurai Central, Thiruvadanai, Mudhukulathur, Nanguneri, Tirunelveli and Sivakasi.
There are 58 Assembly seats in the southern region comprising Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari districts.
The CPI has sought Srivilliputhur, Palani and Sivagangai while the IUML seeks Kadayanallur and Palayamkottai which is also found in the list of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi.
The MDMK under Vaiko prefers the Madurai South, Sattur, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai constituencies.
Since the MDMK was allocated only four seats, the party functionaries hope that their preferred seats in the list of 10 constituencies will be allocated and the CPI, too, has similar hopes.
However, the DMK will be under pressure from the Congress which managed to extract three more seats by threatening to join hands with Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).
The DMK functionaries in the southern region are upset over allocating their seats regularly to the Congress in every election and want to rotate the seats given to allies in each election. The cadre in the seats held by the DMK are also keen to retain the constituencies in the coming Assembly elections.
The Congress functionaries reason that the party is stronger in the southern districts than in the other regions and this is the reason for preferring more seats in the region.
The DMDK, the new entrant to the DMK front, is also expected to seek seats in the southern districts, while the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) may not be a problem since it is stronger in the northern districts.
