DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday, March 22, met a CPI(M) delegation and formally informed them that the party is willing to offer only five seats in the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled for April 23.
The CPI(M), which has been demanding six Assembly seats from the DMK, held its State Committee meeting on Saturday and decided not to accept anything less than six seats. The meeting was led by CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby.
A CPI(M) delegation, led by State Secretary P Shanmugam, met Chief Minister MK Stalin at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, to convey the State Committee’s decision to contest six seats.
Addressing the media after the meeting, P Shanmugam said that the Chief Minister had requested CPI(M) leaders to accept five seats and expressed his inability to allocate more, citing the inclusion of new parties in the DMK-led alliance. “We will once again discuss the offer made by the Chief Minister in our State Committee meeting and take a final decision,” Shanmugam said.
In 2021, both CPI and CPI(M) contested six seats each, winning only two constituencies apiece. Initially, both parties had demanded more seats, but the DMK was unwilling to offer more than five, keeping in mind CPI(M)’s strike rate of 33.34%.
When asked whether CPI(M)’s seat share was reduced due to its performance in the last election, Shanmugam said that the DMK had not allotted constituencies of their choice. “We have a strong base in Kanniyakumari, Tiruppur and Coimbatore, but we were not allotted seats in these districts. If we had been given constituencies of our choice, we would have performed better,” he said.
Intense deliberations were held within the CPI(M) over the past week, with closed-door discussions on whether to accept the DMK’s offer. Sources told TNM that opinions were divided within the State Committee, with some leaders favouring staying in the alliance, while others advocated contesting independently in the upcoming elections.
A CPI(M) leader told TNM that the party was unable to understand the DMK’s rigid stance. “We are surprised that the DMK is refusing to allocate the same number of seats we contested earlier. The State Committee is still deliberating, and we will take an appropriate decision,” he said.
The CPI(M) is likely to reconvene its State and Executive Committee meetings to arrive at a final decision.
DMK sources told TNM that the party remains hopeful that its long-time ally will take a favourable decision, similar to CPI, which agreed to contest five seats. “With the election expected to be closely contested, the DMK wants to field candidates in as many constituencies as possible under its Rising Sun symbol. There is a concern that allocating more seats to allies under different symbols could benefit the opposition,” a source said.
Meanwhile, seat-sharing talks with the Viduthalai Chiruthigal Katchi (VCK) have also reached a deadlock. On March 19, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan met Chief Minister Stalin following disagreements over seat allocation.
Sources in the VCK said the party was expecting a double-digit seat share, but the DMK was willing to offer only the same number of seats it contested in 2021. The VCK had contested six constituencies and won four, registering a strike rate of 66.68%.
A VCK leader told TNM that the party had conveyed its expectations to the Chief Minister. “VCK is a cadre-based party and cannot be treated in the same way as CPI and CPI(M) by the DMK,” he said.
Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) is also seeking three seats from the DMK. However, the DMK’s negotiation committee has indicated that it is willing to allocate only one seat to the party.