DMK swoops in as MNM invites Congress

CHENNAI: Hours after Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) invited Congress to join its alliance and form a Third Front in the upcoming electoral battle, DMK managed to finalise its seat-sharing agreement with the grand old party.

Talks were held late on Saturday night at DMK president MK Stalin’s Alwarpet residence, following which Congress in-charge in TN, Dinesh Gundu Rao, announced that the deal had been finalised. The pact will be singed at 10 am, Sunday, after which the number of seats allotted would be revealed.

The breakthrough in talks has come a day after the State Congress unit was reported to be upset with the “humiliating” treatment of its leaders by DMK counterparts. The State unit raised a clamour to fight the elections without DMK support, and the matter was conveyed to the high command.

The high command responded on Saturday, after which the meeting with DMK took place and the deal was finalised. Rao, TNCC president KS Alagiri, and Congress Legislature Party Leader KR Ramasamy held discussions with Stalin for about 20 minutes. Sources told Express that Congress has been allocated 24 Assembly seats and the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat.

DMK, it’s understood, has also promised to consider one Rajya Sabha seat for its ally. In 2011, DMK had allotted 63 seats to Congress, which reduced to 41 in 2016. This time, Congress was adamant on securing at least 30 seats, while the DMK has not budged from 24 as it wants to keep a minimum of 180 to itself. Following Friday’s outburst in the Congress camp, MNM sent out feelers to the national party on Saturday, inviting it to be part of the Third Front.