Tamil Nadu assembly polls: AIADMK-led NDA nears seat-sharing deal, Piyush Goyal to seal pact in Chennai

Chennai: AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu is likely to wrap up seat-sharing talks in a day or two with BJP's Tamil Nadu in-charge Piyush Goyal to arrive in Chennai on Sunday or Monday to finalise the deal.

Sources said AIADMK will contest in around 170 seats, BJP may be allotted 25 to 28 seats, AMMK around 10, and PMK 18. Other allies may get one to three seats.





In the meantime, AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran told journalists in New Delhi on Saturday that his meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah centred on evolving an "election strategy" to work in tandem and replicate NDA's Bihar victory in Tamil Nadu. Dhinakaran likened the AIADMK-led NDA to a "Panja Pandavar ani" taking on DMK's "Duryodhanan kootani" from the Indian epic Mahabharatam, and stressed that seat-sharing or choice of constituencies did not figure in the talks. Piyush Goyal was present during the discussion. Dhinakaran's visit to the national capital follows AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's late-night meeting with Shah on Thursday. PMK leader and MP Anbumani Ramadoss is in Delhi too.

"We have come to Delhi to discuss strategy with Shah to defeat DMK and form an AIADMK-NDA govt in Tamil Nadu. He has given some instructions and advice," Dhinakaran said.

Seat-sharing talks among alliance partners in NDA would be held in an amicable manner in Chennai in the coming days and would be completed within two to three days, Dhinakaran said.

Senior BJP leaders indicated that Goyal is likely to visit Chennai on Sunday or Monday to complete the formalities of the seat-sharing talks and sign the agreement. "The meetings that Palaniswami and Dhinakaran held with our leader (Shah) sorted out certain hiccups over constituencies of common interest," he added.

Hours after Dhinakaran's meeting with Shah, veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram described the AIADMK-led NDA as a "puppet show" and said "puppets were not important, but the one pulling the strings was".