Tamil Nadu polls: Congress wants 41, DMK sticks to 25 seats plus one Rajya Sabha

CHENNAI: Congress and DMK started their seat-sharing talks at DMK headquarters on Saturday, with Congress asking for 41 assembly seats and two Rajya Sabha seats. DMK offered 25 assembly seats, the same as in 2021, and one Rajya Sabha seat.

Power sharing, DMK told Congress, is off the table.DMK initially considered giving two additional assembly seats, but the panel led by T R Baalu stuck to the offer of 25 during the one-hour negotiation with the Congress team led by AICC member Girish Chodankar.The Congress panel left saying it will get back after consulting Rahul Gandhi, said a source privy to the negotiation.‘Seats for local body polls not discussed’In 2021, Congress contested 25 seats as part of DMK alliance and won 18, mostly in south and coastal districts.

The Congress camp said it demanded 25% of seats and posts in the local body elections at the Saturday discussion; a DMK leader said the topic wasn’t discussed.After some Congress leaders demanded power sharing, DMK had been delaying the talks, even though Congress formed a negotiation team two months ago.Both sides said the Saturday discussion was cordial. “The meeting was very friendly. We expressed our concern and they expressed theirs.

Many issues were discussed threadbare. Everything will be finalised in the next two or three days,” Girish Chodankar said.TNCC chief K Selvaperunthgai, who was part of the seat-sharing committee, reiterated that Congress will ally only with DMK. “Our alliance with DMK is strong and we are having talks only with the DMK. We expressed our opinion on the number of seats to DMK and are confident that we will get them,” he said. He added that the party would disclose the number of seats at the time of signing the agreement.