After a day-long consultation with party MLAs and MPs, Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Monday briefed the party high command about the 78-seat formula to be adopted while holding seat-sharing talks with ally DMK.
Sources close to Mr Chidambaram told this newspaper that the minister, one of the five-member seat-sharing team of the party and who had left for New Delhi on Sunday evening, had reflected the mood of the party MLAs and MPs to All-India Congress Committee (AICC) top brass about handling ally DMK during the ensuing Assembly polls.
“Two Assembly seats per parliamentary seat and power share with the DMK, the demand of all state Congressmen, has been conveyed to the AICC,” sources added.
The other four members of the seat-sharing team who elicited views of the party frontal organisations since this morning had a few minor surprises like state Youth Congress chief Yuvaraj seeking 20 Assembly tickets for the YC. Likewise, 10 TNCC district presidents walked out of Monday’s consultation protesting the omission of former PCC chief E.V.K.S. Elangovan from the team.
The rest of the team, Union shipping minister G.K. Vasan, AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, AICC secretary Jayakumar and TNCC chief K.V. Thangkabalu, would join Mr Chidambaram in Delhi shortly and present to the high command a comprehensive view about the strategy to be adopted while negotiating with the DMK, the sources added. Then the Delhi monitoring team would descend on Tamil Nadu.