CHENNAI: Amidst speculations about the allocation of two Rajya Sabha seats by the AIADMK, DMDK treasurer LK Sudhish held lengthy discussions with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami at the latter’s residence on Friday. Sources said Sudhish put forth a strong demand for a Rajya Sabha seat. However, no decision was announced. Palaniswami is expected to announce his decision within a day or two.
DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant has been harping on the allocation of one Rajya Sabha seat to her party for quite some time. Already, Palaniswami had denied that there was any agreement for allocating one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK. Premalatha had also expressed shock over the denial.
On Thursday, Premalatha made her demand in unequivocal terms in Pudukottai. She said during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the AIADMK promised to give one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK. In the past, the AIADMK allocated a Rajya Sabha seat to Anbumani Ramadoss and GK Vasan. “This is our turn. Palaniswami should allocate one Rajya Sabha seat to the DMDK and keep his word.” In this backdrop, Sudhish called on Palaniswami and held discussions.
Meanwhile, during the two-day interaction with district secretaries, Palaniswami also held discussions about Rajya Sabha seat allocation with senior leaders. Sources said the AIADMK functionaries did not relish the way Premalatha put forth her demand on Thursday. However, the AIADMK is expected to take a decision keeping in mind its plan to forge a strong alliance for the 2026 Assembly election.
The names of several leaders, including S Semmalai, D Jayakumar, party’s presidium chairman Thamizhmagan Hussain, party deputy propaganda secretary Vindhya and N Sadhan Prabhakar from Ramanathapuram district were doing the rounds for the RS seats.
AIADMK sources said Palaniswami, during the two-day-long discussions with secretaries of 82 party districts along with their in-charges, repeatedly told them to complete the strengthening of booth committees by June 15. He explained in detail that strong booth committees were the pillar of the party’s victory at the hustings. Sources said Palaniswami told the functionaries that he would be monitoring the progress made in this regard regularly.