CHENNAI: The seat-sharing exercise within the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) gathered momentum on Sunday, with the ruling party opening formal negotiations with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) for the upcoming Assembly elections.
IUML national president KM Kader Mohideen said the DMK had offered two seats to his party, one less than the three it contested in 2021, and urged the ruling party to allot five, or at least four, constituencies.
"We have sought five seats from the DMK. Ours is a community-based political movement. We have consistently maintained that 16 Muslim MLAs should find representation in the Assembly (across party lines)," he told reporters after the talks at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters.
Recalling that former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had allotted five seats to the IUML in the past, Mohideen said, "Even if five cannot be given, at least four seats must be allotted."
He said the DMK's negotiation committee informed alliance partners that each should consider giving up one seat compared to 2021, as the coalition seeks to accommodate as many as 11 parties. "They have asked all allies to share one seat. They offered us two. We have conveyed our position," he said.
Admitting that the IUML lost all three seats it contested in 2021, Mohideen reiterated that the party would contest only on its 'ladder' symbol and remain firmly in the DMK-led front. "Whether they give four, three, two or even one seat, we will stay with the DMK. This alliance is ideological, not based on electoral bargains," he said, adding that a second round of talks is expected shortly.
Shortly after addressing the media, Kader Mohideen fainted at the venue, with party sources attributing it to heat and fasting during Ramzan.
The DMK, led by its seat-sharing committee under TR Baalu, has also invited the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) for talks on Monday and scheduled discussions with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on February 26.