Congress wants 35 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK sets limit at 28, cites more allies

CHENNAI: Congress has demanded 35 seats in the upcoming election, while alliance leader DMK is willing to give only "two or three seats" more that its 2021 allocation of 25 seats, multiple sources told TOI.A day after AICC general secretary K C Venugopal met chief minister M K Stalin, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Girish Chodankar and TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai called on DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi at her residence in Chennai, seeking more seats. "Congress asked for 35 seats," said a DMK source. "Kanimozhi told the delegation that she would consult with the chief minister." As reported by TOI, Congress has decided not to raise the demand for power-sharing during the seat sharing talks. In return, it has demanded more posts in local bodies, including those of mayors.Sources privy to the DMK-Congress talks said the national party started with a demand for 41 seats, while DMK opened the dialogue with the statement that all the allies should take a cut in the number of seats since there are ten more partners in the alliance this time. Later DMK offered to retain 25 seats for Congress, and finally indicated it may give two or three more seats.DMK conveyed that Congress would not be given the same seats as last time. "We (DMK) told them we would take some of the tough constituencies and give them easier ones," a source said.The new entrants in the DMK alliance include DMDK, MNM, MJK, SDPI, Mukkulathor Pulipadai, and Kongu Ilaignar Peravai. "We need to allocate at least seven seats to DMDK," a DMK leader said.After the meeting, Girish Chodankar told reporters, "The discussions were positive." He said the talks focused on the allocation of a Rajya Sabha seat for the Congress and an increased allocation of seats in the local bodies. The meeting with Kanimozhi lasted two hours.During the discussion, the Congress delegation sought 25% of seats in the forthcoming local body elections. They also sought a written assurance for a Rajya Sabha seat, sources said.