PWF likely to announce seat sharing in two days

Chennai: PWF leaders have arrived at a broad understanding on sharing of 110 seats among the four parties - MDMK, VCK, CPM and CPI, it is learnt. The largest player is likely to be MDMK, followed by VCK, CPM and CPI. There would not be much difference, however, among the various players, and parties would get somewhere between 25 and 30 seats, sources said. VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan was insistent on being accorded the second largest player status in PWF.A formal announcement on seat sharing was expected on Sunday or Monday, said PWF leaders. Vaiko, the convener of the front, was pushing for about 45 seats for his party initially, but apparently made a major step down to keep the alliance intact, said PWF sources. The front, after conceding 124 seats to actor Vijayakanth's DMDK, kept 110 seats to share amongst themselves. There are some issues between the two Left parties in identifying the constituencies as both CPM and CPI are staking claims over 15 seats, said a source.MDMK had contested 35 seats as part of AIADMK alliance in 2006 and won six seats. MDMK boycotted the 2011 assembly election after it failed to strike a deal with AIADMK. In the 2016 election, Vaiko is said to have agreed for a lesser number of seats than what it contested in 2006. On the other hand, CPM had contested 12 seats and won 10 seats, and CPI had contested 10 seats and won nine seats as part of AIADMK alliance in 2011. VCK, as part of DMK alliance, contested 10 seats and lost all of them in 2011. The two Left parties and VCK would contest more than 20 seats in the coming election.PWF and DMDK will formally kick start the election campaign of the alliance on April 10 at a public meeting at Vijayakanth's engineering college at Mamandur, about 70 km from Chennai on the Chennai-Madurai national highway.The alliance was initially waiting for G K Vasan's TMC to respond to Vijayakanth's and PWF leaders' call to join them. But Vasan seems to have made up his mind to go with AIADMK, though the number of seats on offer is low. "We are waiting for invitation from Poes Garden for formal talks," said a senior leader in TMC.