Tamil Nadu assembly polls: EPS moves to seal seat-sharing deal, calls allies to AIADMK headquarters

CHENNAI: AIADMK’s headquarters, MGR Maligai in Royapettah, is gearing up for a busy day on Monday as party leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) will hold official seat-sharing talks with BJP’s Tamil Nadu in-charge, Piyush Goyal, and other allies to finalise the deal.

This follows EPS and T T V Dhinakaran’s meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi last week to resolve differences and arrive at definitive seat-sharing numbers.




The Monday meeting at the AIADMK headquarters is also planned to counter criticism from Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and leaders of his alliance parties over the frequent Delhi trips and the “Tamil Nadu vs Delhi” campaign narrative.

Expressing satisfaction over his late-night meeting with Shah last Thursday, EPS told journalists in Delhi that he was “happy” with the developments and reiterated that the AIADMK is leading the alliance and that formal seat-sharing talks would be completed within four days in Chennai. This was echoed by T T V Dhinakaran after his meeting with Shah on Saturday.

“All the alliance leaders, including the BJP, have been asked to come to AIADMK HQ by 12 noon,” a member of AIADMK’s seat-sharing committee told TOI.

Sources in the BJP said Goyal will meet G. K. Vasan of TMC (M), T. R. Paarivendhar of IJK, and A. C. Shanmugam of the New Justice Party at a city hotel in the morning. Meanwhile, AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran has asked senior functionaries and potential candidates to attend a meeting at the party office in Adyar around 11 am. “Our leader is scheduled to meet Goyal at a city hotel,” said a senior AMMK functionary and one of the candidates for the April 23 polls. He also confirmed that the party has been “allocated 12 seats” in the alliance.

However, sources in the AIADMK said EPS was keen to hold the seat-sharing talks and finalise the formalities there to reinforce his “leadership”. “It was one of the main demands from EPS to protect his image as a strong leader,” said the source.

After Goyal’s visit, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss will call on EPS at the AIADMK office and sign the seat-sharing deal. “Anbumani has asked senior functionaries to come to the AIADMK office by 1 pm,” said a PMK source.