Daijiworld Media Network – Chennai

Chennai, Mar 4: Amid a stalemate in seat-sharing talks between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Indian National Congress, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram and TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai met Chief Minister and DMK president M. K. Stalin at his residence on Tuesday in a bid to break the impasse. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was also present.

Sources said the DMK leadership was not inclined to accept the Congress’s demand for 34 Assembly seats but had indicated its willingness to offer up to 29 seats, along with two Rajya Sabha berths. The DMK’s seat-sharing committee has invited the Congress for a second round of talks on Wednesday, a party spokesperson said.

A Congress leader confirmed the offer and said the party was “working out the numbers” and awaiting approval from the high command.

“Congress will get one Rajya Sabha seat in the forthcoming biennial election, and another will be offered in 2028,” a source said. The DMK is also learnt to have conveyed its preference that the Rajya Sabha seat be allotted to a Tamil Nadu Congress leader.

However, TNCC chief Selvaperunthagai described the meeting with the Chief Minister as a “courtesy call”. “It was a courtesy call. The alliance is firm and the seat-sharing talks will be finalised soon,” he said, adding that no deadline had been set by the DMK.

The decision to depute Chidambaram followed a meeting of senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjuna Kharge and K. C. Venugopal, after talks led by AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar failed to make headway. Chidambaram is understood to have held a virtual consultation with the Delhi leadership before meeting Stalin.

On Sunday, members of the Congress seat-sharing committee reportedly informed the high command that the DMK was firm on allocating no more than 25 seats and one Rajya Sabha berth, with a possible increase to 28 seats after consulting the Chief Minister. Chodankar, who had allegedly submitted a wishlist of 42 to 45 seats to the DMK, was said to be unwilling to settle for fewer than 34 seats.

Subsequently, the Congress high command held consultations with TN MLAs on Sunday night, during which they favoured continuing the alliance with the DMK.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Pudukkottai, DMK leader and Minister for Natural Resources S. Regupathy said the Congress could enter the Assembly only through the DMK-led alliance. “The Congress is well aware of this fact,” he said.