Congress-DMK talks still deadlocked; Will the alliance break?

Chidambaram met Stalin along with state unit chief K Selva Perunthagai and demanded a review of the offer of 25 assembly seats.

Chennai: The deadlock between the ruling DMK and Congress over seat-sharing for the April-May assembly elections continued on Tuesday despite former Union Minister P Chidambaram holding consultations with Chief Minister M K Stalin here, in a last-ditch effort to save the long-standing alliance.

Chidambaram, who was deputed by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to end the stalemate, met Stalin along with state unit chief K Selva Perunthagai and demanded a review of the offer of 25 assembly seats. However, Stalin is believed to have told Chidambaram that he cannot meet the Congress’ demand for over 30 seats, increasing the offer from 25 to a maximum of 27 or 28 seats plus a Rajya Sabha berth.

Stalin, according to sources, asked Chidambaram and Selva Perunthagai to explain to the Congress High Command that the 2026 assembly elections are crucial not just for the DMK but for the I.N.D.I.A. and sought their cooperation. Congress seems to have demanded restoration of the 2016 figure of 41 seats.

“Stalin said he can only increase the offer by two or three seats, not more than that,” a source said, adding that he told Chidambaram to talk to Kharge and Sonia Gandhi and respond by Tuesday night. There was no response from Congress till the time of writing.

Stalin also told Chidambaram that he cannot wait beyond Wednesday morning as nominations for Rajya Sabha elections end on Thursday.

If the Congress agrees to the offer, the DMK will announce two candidates from the party and allot one to the Congress. If the national party does not agree to the offer, the DMK will field its own nominee for the third seat as well, while the fourth seat has been allotted to the DMDK, which joined the alliance in February.

DMDK has fielded L K Sudeesh, brother of party general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth. Of the six seats, the DMK and its allies can win four, while the AIADMK can win two seats.

The development comes amid speculation that the national party was preparing to exit the alliance and go with actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).

Congress sources told DH that while Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi favoured continuing the alliance with the DMK, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi remained undecided. A majority of MLAs and MPs are believed to favor continuing in the DMK alliance because the winnability of candidates is higher.

They also believe leaving the DMK just before the elections would not augur well for Congress’ credibility and the party will lose about the support of 30 MPs in Lok Sabha and 10 MPs in Rajya Sabha (members of DMK and its alliance partners) in its fight against the BJP in Parliament.