CHENNAI: Alliance talks between parties have intensified as Lok Sabha elections draw closer. AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam met DMDK founder Vijayakanth on Monday to discuss their alliance. However, no consensus was reached. “We will come to a good conclusion by tonight or tomorrow,” said Panneerselvam after the meeting.
The New Justice Party has been given one seat as its leader AC Shanmugam has agreed to contest under the two leaves symbol. With this, AIADMK now has 25 seats to itself. It has allocated 7 to PMK, 5 to BJP, 1 to NR Congress in Puducherry and 1 to Puthiya Tamilagam. If DMDK is roped in, AIADMK will have to part with 4-5 more seats.
Meanwhile, after a long wait, DMK has decided to allocate 2 seats each to VCK and CPI. The poll pacts were signed on Monday. The Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK) has been given one seat, though it will have to contest under the ‘rising sun’ symbol. “We shall decide later on which symbol we will contest... There is still a difference of opinion on this,” said Thirumavalavan of VCK.
CPM functionaries led by its State secretary K Balakrishnan held talks with the DMK seat-sharing panel. “DMK has stated a number. We will respond after consulting our party functionaries. The poll pact will be finalised at the earliest,” Balakrishnan said.
MDMK chief Vaiko also met MK Stalin on Monday. He also assured that the agreement on seat sharing would be announced soon. The Congress and IUML have already finalised their pacts with DMK. The much-delayed development has come as a breather for the DMK party cadre.