A DMK source revealed that the party leadership has consented to the proposal of its poll analyst Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) to restrict the allies to around three dozen seats so that the party could contest in over 190 seats on its own.

A discussion to this effect was believed to have happened between the top brass of DMK and I-PAC in the city recently. The analyst, the source added, had scaled up the strike rate of the DMK after actor Rajinikanth pulled out of the electoral fray recently. The analyst who had put the DMK’s tally at well over 150 seats earlier was learnt to have suggested contesting a few dozen extra seats to increase its tally further after the actor changed his mind.

“Reducing the allies’ seat share was on the cards for a long time. After the actor pulled out, the leadership has given the idea a favourable consideration. A push from the analyst also did the trick,” a state level DMK functionary said, before referring to the recent statement of DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, appealing to his leader publicly to not apportion their winnable seats to allies this time.

A DMK senior privy to the discussion said that it might not be easy convincing some allies to half their tally, but they must compromise. Admitting that the DMK high command might compromise and allot over 20 seats to the Congress, the senior party leader said the other junior partners cannot be demanding and they ought to contest in “Rising Sun” symbol if they need a few extra seats.