Jaya's seat offer upsets MDMK, Left

CHENNAI: More than a week after AIADMK clinched a seat-sharing deal with actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK, the party’s long-time allies, MDMK and Left parties, have accused J Jayalalithaa of betraying their interests and offering just 32 seats to be apportioned among themselves.
‘‘AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa has offered just 32 seats to all the three parties together. How is it possible for us and the Left to share such a small number?’’ said a senior MDMK leader not willing to be named.The allies have threatened ‘‘appropriate action’’ if Jayalalithaa failed to accede to their demands. While, talks on the DMK front made some progress and the alliance partners are likely to finalise constituencies on Sunday.
Following AIADMK’s refusal to concede 18 seats it demanded, the CPM state council met in Chennai on Saturday and threatened to review the alliance. After the day-long meeting, CPM state secretary G Ramakrishnan told reporters the party had demanded 18 seats. AIADMK though is offering only 11, two less than the number of seats the party contested in the last assembly elections when it was part of the DMK-led front. ‘‘This is not acceptable for us. If AIADMK does not give us a reasonable number of seats, we will take a final decision on (whether to continue in the alliance) at our state committee meeting on March 19,’’ he said, adding that the central leadership had given its approval for the state executive committee to take a decision on the issue. About 85 members at the meet have told leaders if AIADMK does not agree to their demand, the party should look for a different course.