Chennai, March 23 With just one week left for nominations to begin for the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the major Dravidian parties have intensified negotiations with their respective allies regarding seat-sharing.
Tamil Nadu BJP in-charge Piyush Goyal arrived here on Monday to expedite the talks among the constituents of the NDA, led by the AIADMK in the state. The ruling DMK is likely to finalize the seat arrangements with the CPI (M), DMDK, and other parties in its led Secular Progressive Alliance.
The talks between the DMK and the CPI (M) had stalled when the Marxist party expressed reluctance to accept five seats – one less than the five seats allotted during the 2021 Assembly elections by the former, and hoped that the party would be given six seats.
The DMK has already finalized an agreement with the Congress, providing it with 28 seats – an increase of three compared to the 2021 polls. The VCK, led by Thol Thirumavalavan, is being offered seven seats, although it anticipates a double-digit number. The CPI is being given five seats, and MDMK four, while smaller allies KMDK, IUML, and MMK are being allocated two seats each.
DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan has stated that the party will finalize the seat arrangements with allies before the deadline for filing nomination papers.
On March 22, the DMK leadership completed the process of interviewing over 700 candidates who had expressed their desire to contest on the party's ticket. The party will finalize its list of candidates once the seat-sharing talks are finalized with all the allies, a source in the party said.
Goyal, who arrived here on Monday, said the NDA allies would finalize the seats "as one family."
"As I have already said, I don't work for deadlines. I work for quality. I am quite confident that given the family relations we have, the entire NDA will work as a family led by AIADMK's Edappadi K Palaniswami, (AMMK leader) TTV Dhinakaran, Anbumani (PMK), my party (TN) president Nainar Nagenthran, and Union Minister L Murugan. We will sit and decide today (March 23)," Goyal told reporters here.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already held talks with AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami, Dhinakaran, and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss in the national capital last week. Goyal's visit is to finalize the seat-sharing agreement.
Single-phase elections to the 234 Assembly seats in the state will be held on April 23.
