CHENNAI: As the deadline set by the DMK for accepting its offer of 25 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha seat ended on Tuesday, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram met Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin at his residence in a last-ditch effort to finalise the alliance agreement.
On Tuesday afternoon, Chidambaram, accompanied by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai, held discussions with Stalin. DMK deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was also present at the meeting.
After the talks, Chidambaram and Selvaperunthagai left the Chief Minister’s residence without addressing the media.
The DMK had fixed March 3 as the deadline for the Congress to convey its response to the offer.
The decision to depute Chidambaram was taken at a coordination meeting attended by senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjuna Kharge and K.C. Venugopal.
The fresh round of discussions became necessary after both parties failed to arrive at a consensus on the number of seats to be allotted to the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections under the Secular Progressive Alliance.
On Sunday, members of the Congress seat-sharing committee informed the party’s high command that the DMK was firm on allocating no more than 25 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha seat. Sources indicated that there was limited scope to raise the number marginally to between 25 and 28 seats, subject to consultation with the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar, who had submitted a constituency wishlist of 35 to 40 seats to the DMK, stated that the offer of 25 Assembly seats for the 2026 elections was not acceptable.
Later on Sunday night, the Congress high command held consultations with its MLAs in Tamil Nadu on the alliance. While the legislators expressed support for continuing the alliance with the DMK, they emphasised that the party should contest a higher number of seats.