PUDUCHERRY: The first round of seat-sharing talks between the DMK and the Congress for the upcoming Assembly elections in Puducherry, remained inconclusive on Saturday night, with leaders of both parties deciding to leave the final decision to their leaderships. The Saturday meeting was held at a hotel as both parties refused to hold talks in either of their offices. The Congress delegation led by PCC president and Lok Sabha member V Vaithilingam, while DMK was led by the party in charge MP S Jagathrakshagan.
The parties did not decide on either the number of seats each party would contest or on which party would lead the alliance in Puducherry. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jagathrakshagan said the Congress-DMK alliance remained strong and that the outcome of the talks would be conveyed to DMK president MK Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who would take the final call on seat allocation, he said. “We have confirmed the alliance in this meeting, and there is no confusion regarding seats.” Vaithilingam said the discussions were smooth and that a decision on who would lead the alliance would be made after both parties hold discussions. Senior Congress leaders who participated included former Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, former ministers MOHF Shahjahan and M Kandasamy, MLA M Vaidyanathan, former MLA RKR Anantharaman, and Puducherry Congress senior vice-president Devadas.