DMK plays hard, now it is for AICC high command to decide: TNCC leadership

Tension rises as DMK's seat-sharing offer leaves Congress awaiting AICC's crucial decision on alliance for upcoming Assembly polls.

With Congress veteran P. Chidambaram making a last ditch attempt to mend DMK-Congress relationship by meeting the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin personally to push through an acceptable solution on seat sharing for the upcoming Assembly polls, a source privy to the meeting said the DMK stuck to its guns, barely moving the needle by a few seats.

A Congress leader told The Hindu, “We wanted the number to be more than 30, but the DMK is unwilling to budge....they are willing to go up by two or three more seats (from their earlier offer of 25) along with one Rajya Sabha seat. Nothing more. Now, the AICC high command has to decide...whether to be in the DMK alliance or move out of the alliance.”

He added the DMK leadership has communicated that the Congress must accept this offer to accommodate few more political parties who have become a part of the alliance for the Assembly elections.

Another leader said, “It is important to conclude the negotiations by today because...we have to decide the candidate for Rajya Sabha polls. There were different formulas proposed...if they are offering less Assembly seats, we asked for one more Rajya Sabha seats in addition to the one already committed by the DMK. But, it wasn’t accepted.”