The Congress has signalled tough bargaining in its ongoing seat-sharing talks with the DMK ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar stating that the offer of 25 seats from the ruling party is “not acceptable.”
Speaking to the press, Chodankar said discussions between the two allies were held in a positive atmosphere but indicated that the Congress expects the DMK to meet its demands for the alliance to move forward.
“Our committee and their committee we had a hour long discussion yesterday. It was very good atmosphere, very positive atmosphere. We only hope that our wish list that we have submitted will be accepted by the DMK then only we can continue with this,” he said.
Emphasising the Congress’s electoral priorities, Chodankar added, “Right now our priority is assembly election so that we have sufficient numbers in the assembly where we can have our own member of parliament from Rajya Sabha.”
He confirmed that the DMK had proposed 25 seats to the Congress but made clear the party was dissatisfied with the offer. “They offered us 25 seats but that is not acceptable to us,” he said.
Highlighting the long-standing relationship between the two parties, Chodankar remarked, “Whatever we want we have given to them because we have been associated with the DMK for a very long time. They are very old associate with us. Whenever they were in crisis, we helped them by reducing our quota. Now it is their turn to give it back to us.”
He added that the Congress was awaiting the DMK’s response and hoped for a quick resolution. “Should happen in a day or two then only we can proceed. We are waiting for their call. We have proposal we have given to them whatever we we had whether in terms of number of seats and other things,” he said.
Commenting on the emerging political landscape, Chodankar also referred to actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), saying the new party should not be underestimated. “It’s a new party we can’t underestimate them they are getting traction among the youngsters and they are also recognizing the strength of Indian national congress and our leader Rahul ji in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
He reiterated that the Congress remains focused on negotiations with its long-time ally. “Right now our talks are going on with the MK which are our old allies and we have submitted them what we desire in this election so that our rebuilding of our Congress party in Tamil Nadu is on the right track. So we don’t want to sacrifice..”
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