DMK begins seat sharing talks with alliance parties
A day after forming the 7-member sharing committee, the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in Tamil Nadu on Sunday initiated the process, by first holding talks with Indian union Muslim League (IUML) as has been the norm followed over the years.
IUML National President Khader Moideen accompanied by his Party’s seat sharing panel members drove down to DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam and held the first round of seat sharing talks with the DMK’s committee headed by Lok Sabha MP and Party Treasurer T R Baalu, ahead of the Assembly elections due in few weeks time.
Soon after the meeting, Khader Moideen, while addressing the media, fainted and swooned due to heat and fasting during Ramzan.
He was taken inside the DMK party office and after administering first aid, he was shifted to a hospital, where his condition was said to be stable.
During the talks, the IUML, which was allotted three seats by the DMK in th 2021 polls and drew a blank, said to have sought five seats .
As the DMK, citing the presence of new allies, agreed for two, the IUML asked for at least four seats.
Khader Moideen said the talks were cordial and that they have informed the DMK panel that he would hold consultations with his party members and get back again.
The much awaited seat sharing exercise in the DMK Front, which was apparently delayed over its key ally raising the demand for power sharing, which also led to delay in the forming the seat sharing panel by the DMK, gathered momentum today with the Dravidian major opening formal negotiations with the IUML.
The DMK was expected to hold similar talks with other allies including Congress, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, DMDK, which had allied with the DMK for the first time, Makkal Needhi Maiam of actor Kamal Haasan, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, and other minor parties, including Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) and KMDK.
Recalling that former Chief Minister and DMK Patriarch M Karunanidhi had allotted five seats to the IUML in the past, Mr Khader Mohideen said, “Even if five cannot be given, at least four seats must be allotted.”
He said the DMK’s negotiation committee had informed alliance partners that each and everyone of them should consider giving up one seat compared to the numbers allotted in 2021, as the coalition seeks to accommodate as many as 11 parties. “They have asked all allies to donate one seat. They offered us two. We have conveyed our position,” he said.
He reiterated that the IUML would contest only on its ‘Ladder’ symbol and his party would remain firmly in the DMK-led front.
“Whether they give four, three, two or even one seat, we will stay with the DMK. This alliance is ideological, not based on electoral bargaining,” he said, adding, the second round of talks will happen soon.
Shortly after addressing the media, Kader Mohideen fainted at the venue, with party sources attributing it to heat and fasting during Ramzan.
The DMK was said to have invited the MMK for talks on Monday and was expected to hold discussions with the CPI(M) on February 26.