Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 3: The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday marginally increased its offer to the Congress to 27 Assembly seats instead of the initial 25, and a Rajya Sabha berth for the coming elections to the Tamil Nadu State Assembly.
The DMK sources said it was now waiting for the response from the Congress High Command.
The stalemate between the Congress and the DMK over seat-sharing was eased through the mediation of senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, who met the DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai and held discussions.
The Congress sources said the party had initially demanded at least 41 seats but might be ready to accept 30 seats and negotiations would be on for the DMK to hike the offer by at least three more seats than its present offer.
The Chief Minister reportedly told Mr Chidambaram that the issue could have been resolved much earlier had the Congress deputed him as mediator. He agreed to increase the number of seats to 27 “out of respect” for Mr Chidambaram.
According to sources, Mr Stalin explained that the DMK had significantly strengthened its organisation over the past five years and the welfare measures implemented by its government had further consolidated public support.
The sources said when the talks on the seat sharing between the two alliance partners was on the edge, the behind-the-scenes role played by DMK parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram helped break the ice between the leadership of the two parties. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also played a pivotal role in retaining the front.
The prospects of concluding the deal on a happy note brightened on Tuesday when the Congress deputed Mr Chidambaram to hold a meeting with Mr Stalin. Sources said though the two leaders had begun building bridges a few days earlier, the breakthrough was achieved when the AICC high command in New Delhi arranged a telephonic conversation with Congress MLAs in Tamil Nadu to elicit their views on continuing the alliance with the DMK. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal spoke to the MLAs on Monday night.
“Most of them were in favour of continuing the alliance with the DMK. Even those who have a difference of opinion said the high command could take the final call,” a source said. Simultaneously, efforts were made to rope in Mr Chidambaram as a negotiator as talks previously held with the DMK by AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar had not progressed well. Sources said Mr Chidambaram agreed to play the role, but on one condition: he preferred a one-on-one meeting with Mr Stalin.
Before setting out to begin the negotiations, Mr Chidambaram held a virtual meeting with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. “From the beginning, Ms Sonia Gandhi has been in favour of continuing the alliance with the DMK,” sources said.
The DMK had earlier stuck to its offer of 25 seats in the Assembly elections and one Rajya Sabha berth, but Mr Chodankar had flatly turned down the offer. The Congress now hopes Mr Chidambaram, through his personal rapport with Mr Stalin, would be able to bring the stalemate to an end. “The Chief Minister may increase the number by a few seats. But we do not believe we will get two Rajya Sabha seats, because the DMK has to allot one seat to the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK),” a source said.
As the filing of nominations for the biennial Rajya Sabha election ends on March 5, the DMK is also keen to conclude the negotiations swiftly. “The application form itself runs to 50 pages. We have a lot of formalities to complete before filing the nomination,” a Congress leader said. “The estimation of the DMK in the eyes of the people will go down if it reduces its share of seats,” the Chief Minister reportedly told Mr Chidambaram.
On his party, Mr Chidambaram is now awaiting the response of the Congress high command in Delhi before proceeding further with the seat-sharing talks. Meanwhile, the DMK is expected to announce the allotment of one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK led by Premallatha Vijayakant.
