CHENNAI: Seat-sharing among constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu is likely to be finalised on Wednesday, sources said.
The AIADMK-led alliance in the State, which includes the BJP, PMK, TMC, AMMK and Puratchi Bharatham, is yet to formally constitute a committee to hold seat-sharing talks with its partners.
Sources said the delay in forming the committee stems from the BJP’s interest in allocating seats to some of the smaller alliance partners, in addition to the PMK and the TMC.
Earlier, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally in Madurai, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami convened a consultative meeting of NDA leaders where initial discussions were held on the number of constituencies each party would contest. However, no final decision was reached
Palaniswami later travelled to New Delhi and held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on seat-sharing, though details of the discussions were not made public.
With Prime Minister Modi scheduled to address an election rally in Tiruchy on Wednesday, Palaniswami is expected to hold another round of talks with NDA leaders, during which the number of seats to be allotted to the BJP and other alliance partners is likely to be finalised.
Following this, the AIADMK is expected to constitute a formal seat-sharing committee to negotiate constituency allocations with its allies. The final list of constituencies each party will contest is expected to be announced in the coming days.