The DMK-Congress alliance that came into being in 2004 is all set to continue for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. This was confirmed after Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi here Monday.
“I had a 45-minute meeting with Mrs Gandhi. The alliance between the two parties will continue,” Mr Karunanidhi told reporters after the meeting.
The chief minister, who was accompanied by senior DMK leader T.R. Balu, Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran and his daughter Kanimozhi, a DMK MP, told reporters that a group will be set up to discuss the modalities of the seat-sharing arrangement. “A group will be constituted that will decide the number of seats and the specific constituencies to be contested by the two parties (Congress and DMK),” the chief minister said.
The announcement comes a day after Mr Karunanidhi declared that the PMK would be a part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance.
The meeting between Mrs Gandhi and Mr Karunanidhi was initially scheduled for 1 pm, but was postponed. This, sources said, was because Mrs Gandhi was reluctant to meet the DMK supremo if there was no assurance of an agreement. This led to speculation about a deadlock, which unnerved the DMK. Sources said the DMK was reluctant to declare how many seats it was prepared to give the Congress. This comes in the backdrop of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Chennai visit last week, when he sought 80 seats and a share in power, to which the DMK appears reluctant to commit yet.