DMK ends seat-sharing talks; to contest 20 seats

The DMK on Tuesday announced that it will contest 20 seats after having allotted the same number of seats to eight other political parties as it wrapped up the seat-sharing negotiations.

Technically, the DMK will be contesting 22 to 25 seats, with KDMK, IJK, MDMK and VCK being asked to contest on the party’s "rising sun" symbol to put up a "tough fight" against the BJP.

With the seat-sharing deal done and dusted, the focus now turns to identification and allotment of seats to be contested by the alliance partners.

A team headed by DMK treasurer Durai Murugan will begin the exercise on Thursday by inviting all alliance partners for talks.

While the Congress has been allotted 10 seats, the CPM, CPI and VCK will contest two seats each and the MDMK, IUML, IJK and KDMK will field candidates in one seat each.

The MDMK will get a Rajya Sabha seat when the biennial elections are held in July — the seat will go to party chief Vaiko.

"The DMK will contest 20 seats on its own in the Lok Sabha elections. We have allotted the remaining 20 seats to alliance partners. The MDMK will get one Lok Sabha seat and one Rajya Sabha nomination," DMK President M K Stalin told reporters after signing the pact with Vaiko.

He said the party could not accommodate MMK’s demand for a seat this election but has sought its support for the Lok Sabha polls.

Stalin also said he would share the dais with Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting to be organised by the party on March 13.

The DMK has made several concessions to its alliance partners to ensure better results, after the AIADMK stitched up a rainbow alliance with the BJP, PMK and a few other parties.

The DMK, which has already named Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial face, hopes to cash-in on the visible anti-incumbency against the BJP and AIADMK governments.