INDIA bloc to hold talks today after allies demand more LS seats from DMK in TN

Chennai: The constituents of the INDIA bloc will be meeting at the DMK’s headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai on Wednesday, to work out the seat sharing pact for Tamil Nadu for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Senior DMK leader, TR Baalu will meet the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leaders Thol Thirumavalavan and Ravikumar for seat sharing talks.

The VCK was earlier demanding four seats and has now climbed down to two reserved seats and one general seat.

The DMK is adamant that only two seats would be provided and the VCK can decide whether it will fight on one general and one SC seat or both will be SC seats.

The talks between the partners are not going smoothly as major allies of the DMK are demanding more Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress also wants at least nine seats which it had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while the CPI-M is demanding the Coimbatore seat which it had won in 2019.

The DMK is willing to allocate the CPI-M two seats which include its current seat Madurai.

As far as Coimbatore is concerned, the DMK wants Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan to contest from there, however, the CPI-M is not budging from its demand.

The MDMK, another constituent, has also demanded a Rajya Sabha seat in addition to a Lok Sabha seat which the DMK has allocated it.

Durai Vaiko, son of MDMK founder leader Vaiko will be the MDMK candidate for the Lok Sabha elections.

Even though the VCK and DMK are both standing their ground over the number of seats, the VCK recently stated that it would continue with the DMK-led alliance.

However, given the ambitions of the VCK to establish itself as a prominent force in Tamil Nadu, the possibility of the party forging an alliance with the AIADMK is very high.

The Congress has also raised the banner of rebellion and the party, according to its senior leaders, is in communication with the AIADMK.

The IANS had reported on Tuesday that the AIADMK had offered 16 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress.

However, with veteran leader TR Baalu leading the discussions for the DMK, the party leadership expects the seat sharing to be completed in an amicable manner.

Senior DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister for Water Resources, S Duraimurugan told IANS, “We will settle all issues amicably and win all the seats from Tamil Nadu.”