‘Take it or leave it’: DMK makes 25-seat offer to Congress for assembly polls, party holds out for 41; alliance talks in limbo

CHENNAI: Seat-sharing talks between DMK and Congress have hit a dead end with DMK making a virtual ‘take it or leave it’ offer of 25 seats and a Rajya Sabha seat. Congress, which demanded 41 assembly seats and two RS seats, has conveyed that it cannot accept the alliance leader’s offer.

DMK organisation secretary and seat-sharing panel member R S Bharathi told TOI that the party’s offer was “clearly communicated” during the talks with Congress representatives. “Now they have to take it or reject it,” he said. “There will be no change in our offer.” He, however, added that his party has not set any deadline.




AICC leader Girish Chodankar said the negotiation panel has submitted a report to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, conveying that DMK has not acceded to their demand. Sources told TOI that Chodankar has reported to the leadership that the talks have hit a dead end as DMK did not respond positively to the demand for power-sharing and more seats.

Sources said seat-sharing did not come up during the short conversation when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called up DMK chief M K Stalin on Sunday evening to convey his birthday wishes to the CM. Later that night, Congress high command reached out to party MLAs in Tamil Nadu to seek feedback on alliance options.

“AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and a few others reached out to MLAs here,” said a TNCC leader. “Most favoured continuing in the DMK alliance, while a small number said the party could consider TVK if DMK does not offer more seats.”

TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai struck a conciliatory note, saying there was no confusion or crisis in the alliance. “Negotiations happen in every election. Every party asks for more seats, and a settlement is eventually reached. The same will happen here. We are asking for a few more seats, and talks are continuing,” he said.

Selvaperunthagai denied any talks with TVK or any directive from the high command to explore alternative alliances. “There is no backdoor politics,” he said. TVK functionaries also said no discussions took place between their party and AICC leaders.

Responding to reporters’ questions on whether TVK could align with Congress, C T R Nirmal Kumar, joint general secretary of TVK, said alliances can change even at the last minute.