DMK’s seat-sharing talks with allies hit a roadblock

Seat-sharing talks within the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) has hit a roadblock due to persisting differences between DMK, the senior ally, and junior partners such as CPI(M), VCK, and actor Kamal Haasan’s MNM on the number of seats to be allotted to the two parties in the April 23 assembly polls.

Once the agreement is signed with the existing partners, the DMK will formally launch negotiations with DMDK and a few small parties that have been inducted into the alliance to counter anti-incumbency and further consolidate the SPA with the contest likely to be four-cornered. The number of seats to be allotted to actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK being kept as a suspense is also another reason for existing allies the VCK to be disappointed with the DMK.

While the DMK is asking CPI (M) to accept five assembly seats in place of six it contested in 2021, the VCK is being offered seven to eight seats against its demand for 10 assembly segments. The DMK has cited expansion of the alliance for reducing the number of existing seats or not being able to meet the demands of existing partners, who say they cannot be taken for granted.

The parties have also pointed to the Congress getting three seats more from its 2021 figure of 25 along with a Rajya Sabha seat while pressing for more seats from the DMK. CPI(M) is categorical it cannot accept five seats, and the party convened an urgent meeting to discuss the current political situation on Saturday.

DMK has so far allotted 28 seats to the Congress, two to IUML, two to MMK, four to MDMK, and a couple of seats to other parties.

“If the CPI(M) is adamant, we will allot them six seats. We plan to give eight seats to the VCK. It is not that we are reducing the seats of allies alone, the DMK will also be contesting in less seats when compared to 2021 polls,” a senior DMK leader told DH. The leader added that partners will have to swallow the “bitter pill” in the interests of the alliance.

However, VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, a prominent Dalit leader in the state, expressed his disappointment to his cadres on Saturday when he told them to get prepared to contest in less than 10 seats. “Considering the future, we may accept less numbers this time as well. But the fact is we don’t have any support. We have to depend on donors to fund the election campaign,” Thirumavalavan, a Lok Sabha MP, said.

DMDK, whose vote share has dwindled to a mere 1 per cent and has already been allotted a Rajya Sabha seat, will be one of the last parties to be invited for negotiations.

For parties like MNM, the issue is altogether different with the DMK insisting that its candidates contest in the party’s Rising Sun symbol instead of their own election symbol. It has been a practice for the Dravidian majors to push smaller parties to contest on their symbol, which is familiar among the people and might be easy to reach them. However, the parties are resisting the move since they feel contesting on Rising Sun symbol will take away their independent identity.