<p>Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK</a>) will on Sunday kick-start seat-sharing negotiations with alliance partners for the April-May assembly elections, with the first party being the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). </p><p>The invitation to IUML came hours after the DMK constituted a seven-member committee under the leadership of treasurer T R Baalu to allot seats for alliance parties. Ministers K N Nehru, E V Velu, and M R K Panneerselvam, MPs Tiruchi Siva, and A Raja, and former Rajya Sabha member R S Bharathi are members of the committee. </p> .Tamil Nadu polls: DMK forms seat-sharing panel under T R Baalu for talks with allies.<p>“As per the tradition, we have invited IUML as the first party for seat-sharing talks. We will invite our alliance partners one by one in the next few days and hold first round of talks. We may not be able to finalise the numbers in a single sitting. There are maybe a couple of sittings with each party,” a senior DMK leader told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The leader said Congress, which has been waiting for the constitution of the committee for the last two months, is likely to be the last party to be called since it is the second largest party after the DMK. </p><p>“We have to first hear the demands of smaller parties before listening to larger parties. We will also call parties that will contest seats on the DMK’s symbol before inviting the Congress,” the leader added. </p> .<p>The development comes at a time when there is a visible strain in the DMK-Congress ties with the former being upset with the latter for going public on its demand for power sharing. The DMK took objection to a few Congress leaders stressing on the demand for a power share even after Chief Minister M K Stalin ruled out such an arrangement in Tamil Nadu. </p><p> DMK sources said despite the induction of a couple of parties like DMDK, the party is unlikely to reduce the number of seats for long-standing alliance partners. “We contested about 180 seats in our symbol in 2021, but we may have to forego over 10 seats additionally this time to alliance partners. We might be contesting over 160 seats this time,” the leader added.</p> .<p>While the Congress is expecting about 35-37 assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha berth, the DMK is likely to offer 25-28 seats this time. “If the Congress is persistent, we might increase the number to 30 but not beyond that,” another DMK leader said. VCK, a prominent Dalit party, is expected to get about eight seats, up from the six it contested, while the CPI(M) and CPI are expected to get the same six seats each they got in 2021.</p><p> The leaders said the DMK is also planning to give seats from its quota to leaders of influential caste organisations.</p>
<p>Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK</a>) will on Sunday kick-start seat-sharing negotiations with alliance partners for the April-May assembly elections, with the first party being the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). </p><p>The invitation to IUML came hours after the DMK constituted a seven-member committee under the leadership of treasurer T R Baalu to allot seats for alliance parties. Ministers K N Nehru, E V Velu, and M R K Panneerselvam, MPs Tiruchi Siva, and A Raja, and former Rajya Sabha member R S Bharathi are members of the committee. </p> .Tamil Nadu polls: DMK forms seat-sharing panel under T R Baalu for talks with allies.<p>“As per the tradition, we have invited IUML as the first party for seat-sharing talks. We will invite our alliance partners one by one in the next few days and hold first round of talks. We may not be able to finalise the numbers in a single sitting. There are maybe a couple of sittings with each party,” a senior DMK leader told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The leader said Congress, which has been waiting for the constitution of the committee for the last two months, is likely to be the last party to be called since it is the second largest party after the DMK. </p><p>“We have to first hear the demands of smaller parties before listening to larger parties. We will also call parties that will contest seats on the DMK’s symbol before inviting the Congress,” the leader added. </p> .<p>The development comes at a time when there is a visible strain in the DMK-Congress ties with the former being upset with the latter for going public on its demand for power sharing. The DMK took objection to a few Congress leaders stressing on the demand for a power share even after Chief Minister M K Stalin ruled out such an arrangement in Tamil Nadu. </p><p> DMK sources said despite the induction of a couple of parties like DMDK, the party is unlikely to reduce the number of seats for long-standing alliance partners. “We contested about 180 seats in our symbol in 2021, but we may have to forego over 10 seats additionally this time to alliance partners. We might be contesting over 160 seats this time,” the leader added.</p> .<p>While the Congress is expecting about 35-37 assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha berth, the DMK is likely to offer 25-28 seats this time. “If the Congress is persistent, we might increase the number to 30 but not beyond that,” another DMK leader said. VCK, a prominent Dalit party, is expected to get about eight seats, up from the six it contested, while the CPI(M) and CPI are expected to get the same six seats each they got in 2021.</p><p> The leaders said the DMK is also planning to give seats from its quota to leaders of influential caste organisations.</p>