CHENNAI: The poll heat that picked up in the recent days is set to hit a new high on Monday in Tamil Nadu, with both rival alliances expected to finalise the number of seats that their constituents would contest in the April 23 Assembly elections.
While the CPM and VCK, two important partners in the alliance headed by the ruling DMK, are holding internal meetings on Monday, the NDA’s equation is likely to be reached on the same day when Union Minister Piyush Goyal, holds discussions with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
A CPM delegation led by State secretary P Shanmugam met Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin at Anna Arivalayam on Monday, the first such meeting though talks had been under way for nearly 20 days.
“He explained the constraints in allotting seats due to the presence of several allies and requested us to accept five seats in the larger interest of sustaining the front,” Shanmugam said, adding that the request would be placed before the executive committee on Monday. However, he asserted, the CPM would continue in the alliance irrespective of the outcome of the seat-sharing talks.
Meanwhile, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan has convened the party’s high-level committee meeting in Chennai on Monday. A senior leader said two rounds of seat-sharing talks had been held so far. “The discussions are progressing smoothly, and we are confident of securing more seats than in 2021. Bur Monday’s meeting is to discuss election-related works and is not focused on seat-sharing,” he said.