The talks between the DMK and the Congress on Tuesday could not progress further as the DMK leadership refused to increase its original offer of 18 seats. Further, the two Communist parties could not reach an agreement as the DMK offered them only four seats each.
“The DMK seems to be firm. We do not know how to break the deadlock. In fact, we are shocked by the unrelenting stand of the DMK leadership,” a leader of a Left party told The Hindu on Tuesday.
No progress
Congress leaders, including Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri, held talks for over 70 minutes with the DMK team, led by treasurer T.R. Baalu, at Anna Arivalayam. “There was no progress since they have not increased the number. The next round will be held only after the DMK leadership gets back to us,” said a Congress leader.
The Congress leaders had told their DMK counterparts that the offer should match the status of the national party which had been part of the DMK alliance for 15 years [except in 2014].
“The alliance will take off successfully only if all partners are satisfied. Otherwise, we can share the dais, and there will be no cordiality among the workers,” said the Congress leader.
The Left leaders also expressed similar sentiments. “We may adjust in view of the greater threat from the BJP and the Sangh Parivar that seek to find a toehold in Tamil Nadu. But it is not easy to convince the rank and file,” a Left leader said.
Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s stand on the alliance, another Congress leader said Mr. Gandhi was for the continuation of the alliance. “But he wants us to have a dignified status,” he said.
The DMK seems to have evolved a formula of allotting two seats each per Lok Sabha constituencies won by the allies. It has fixed 18 seats for the Congress since it won 9 seats (including in Puducherry). As the CPI and the CPI(M) won two each, they have been offered four seats each.