driving a tough bargain with the DMK in a possible electoral pact may not be easy for the Congress whose State president E V K S Elangovan has been pitching for an agreement for sharing power as a precondition to strike an alliance for the next Assembly polls.
Analysts point out that the Congress does not have the required vote share to press for a mandatory coalition arrangement with the Dravidian party. Such hard talk could, however, be possible if the Congress rides piggyback on Vijayakant’s DMDK and collectively bargains with the DMK.
With DMK treasurer M K Stalin and Elangovan often sharing dais and vowing to work as a double barrel gun against AIADMK, it is being speculated that the two parties could come together though they broke up three years ago. In this backdrop, Elangovan has begun to make noises about getting the post of deputy chief minister and key portfolios for Congress should there be a change in regime next year.
But analysts see this as mere posturing. While it was possible for Congress to force the DMK into parting with 63 seats in the 2011 Assembly, much water has flown under the bridge since then as the party’s vote share has shrunk.