Seat-sharing talks smooth, no stalemate, will be signed soon: DMK's allies

Denying any glitches in seat-sharing talks with the ruling DMK, the Congress unit in Tamil Nadu and another ally, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, on Saturday said that a seat-sharing pact would be signed soon, amidst a stalemate in discussions.

The allies also indicated that the parleys with the Dravidian major have been smooth.

"Who said they (DMK) are unwilling to allot seats to us? The talks with the DMK are smooth and friendly. We will soon finalise the numbers," TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai told reporters here.

When asked to specify the number of seats offered to the grand old party, Selvaperunthagai shot back saying all the 40 Lok Sabha seats (including the lone Puducherry constituency) in Tamil Nadu were the Congress seats and the party would fight the upcoming poll in that spirit.

Asked if the DMK declined to allot the specific number sought by the Congress, he said his party's high command was in touch with the DMK leadership and the numbers would be finalised soon.

Speaking in a similar vein, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said his party could not resume the second round of negotiations with the DMK today due to its high-level committee meeting which discussed numerous issues related to the Lok Sabha poll. "So, we could not keep up our appointment this afternoon," he said.

Thirumavalavan told reporters here that the VCK would demand four seats from the ruling party and exuded hope that their wish would be conceded.

On February 29, the DMK finalised the seat-sharing agreement with the Left parties, assigning two constituencies each to the CPI and CPI (M).