Chennai: After alleging disrespect by the main Opposition DMK, its key ally, the Congress, on Sunday agreed to contest in 25 Assembly seats, besides the Kanniykumari Lok Sabha seat, where bypoll would be held along with the 6 April single phase polling in Tamilnadu.
After hard bargaining and last minute parleys that stretched on till late on Saturday night, the DMK and the Congress signed the seat-sharing agreement, ending days of strong posturing by the national party and its veiled threat of exiting the alliance alleging ‘disrespect’.
Sources said the DMK ‘convinced’ the Congress by promising it more seats in the Legislative Council, which it plans to revive after coming to power. “Also, posts of heads of welfare boards have been promised,” sources added.
As per the agreement, the Congress was allotted 25 Assembly seats and the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant after the death of Congress MP H Vasanthakumar due to corona.
The Congress was left with no other option but to settle for the lesser number of seats after a stubborn DMK refused to concede its demand for ‘respectable’ seats.
The Congress, which was allotted 41 seas by the DMK in the 2016 Assembly polls, managed to win only eight seats, that virtually spoiled the DMK’s dream of returning to power, despite the Dravidian party emerging as the strongest Opposition ever winning 89 seats in the 234-member Assembly.
As the DMK was in no mood to concede the Congress’ demand for 30 seats, many in the Congress also suggested exiting the DMK-led alliance alleging and ‘disrespect’, while some others also suggested aligning with actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam as a last resort.
Pushed to the wall owing to the lack of strong alternatives, the Congress finally settled for 25 seats.
Last evening, the DMK signed the seat sharing pact with MDMK led by Vaiko allotting six seats to it, same as those allotted to its other allies the VCK and the CPI, that too after hard bargaining.
The talks with other ally, the CPI(M), remained inconclusive and the latter was holding talks with its office-bearers on the issue.
The DMK had already allotted three and two seats to its minor alies the IUML and MMK respectively.
Later, talking to reporters, TNCC president K S Alagiri his party’s demand seeking one Rajya Sabha seat from the DMK was under consideration.
He said he was ‘fully satsified’ with the seat-sharing agreement as it was signed to protect ‘secularism’.
Observing that ‘secularism’ has united the parties in this alliance in one same straight line, he hit out at the BJP and said it has grown into a disease and they are trying to spread it across India.
They have infiltrated into several parties to break them, weaken them, poach leaders and topple the government, he charged.
Alagiri alleged that the Congress regime in Puducherry was toppled by the Lt Governor with the help of the Centre.
“The Congress joined the alliance with the sole aim to stop the BJP from exerting influence in the State and also to ensure that AIADMK should not get another chance to form the government, and to remove anti-social justice forces,”
he said.
On senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s point of view with respect to this election, he said, “Rahul Gandhi told us that the elections are not just about the alliance. It is a war between two ideologies. If the AIADMK-BJP alliance wins, it will mean that an ideology has been defeated and another ideology has taken root.”
“Everybody should get together to pull the chariot”, he added.
When asked about steady reduction in allocation of seats to the Congress, Alagiri said, “In politics, it is common to have ups and downs. Great leaders have lost the elections and then won them.”
The seat-sharing agreement depends on the political ground that exists, he said.
AICC Tamilnadu in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was also present, said the seat sharing agreement was signed in the spirit of co-operation and the party was happy with the
numbers.
“The country is facing a big threat today…not just in terms of an ideological battle but to save democracy,” he added.