CM Stalin discusses seat sharing issues with his negotiation team

CHENNAI: Concerned over the delay in reaching consensus with allies Congress, VCK and MDMK, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday got into a huddle with his party seniors to resolve the differences.

Stalin held a discussion with his seat sharing team headed by DMK treasurer T R Baalu at party headquarters Anna Arivalayam Thursday afternoon.

Though the team kept party president Stalin posted about the status of negotiation with the allies on a real-time basis, this is the second time in a week that he has personally discussed the issues in the negotiation with the seat sharing team.

If sources in the DMK are to be believed, conflict among the allies over the choice of constituencies was high on the agenda of Thursday's discussion.

For instance, convincing Congress to give up Trichy for MDMK and persuading CPIM to 'sacrifice' Coimbatore in the event of actor Kamal Haasan insisting on contesting a LS ticket instead of a Rajya Sabha nomination and forcing Congress into giving up sitting seats like Krishnagiri, Tiruvallur, Karur and Sivagangai were also among the issues discussed by the CM.

The Chief Minister was also understood to have briefly elicited the views of the experienced negotiation team on the issue of VCK demanding a third seat (general) for its newly appointed resourceful deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjun who is also close to the DMK.

However, the team and the CM were in agreement not to apportion the third seat, something that has been categorically communicated to the VCK leadership.

The DMK leadership is believed to have changed its mind on the symbol issue of the MDMK, which is adamant that it would only contest on its 'own' symbol this election.