CHENNAI: After days of needling, during which the second-rung leaders of the party attacked the alliance leader, DMK, seeking share in power, the Congress fielded its big guns to meet Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin at his residence ahead of the formal beginning of seat-share talks, on Sunday.
While it was widely believed that the two uneasy partners would begin the negotiations on the number of seats that the national party would contest, the talks happened only between All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Stalin. The leaders from both parties, who are entrusted with the seat negotiations, were not present during the meeting.
Sources said Tamil Nadu Congress screening committee chairman TS Singh Deo was also part of the meeting. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai, who received the visiting leaders at the Chennai airport earlier in the day, was not part of the talks, sources said.
The meeting, which lasted for over half an hour, is seen as a step towards repairing the frayed edges that, at one point, had even raised doubts about the continuation of the Congress in the alliance, as a section of Congress leaders asserted that the party should get a larger share of seats and a role in power-sharing in the event of the alliance returning to office.
Meanwhile, sources said the Congress is also seeking a Rajya Sabha seat, as its national leadership is concerned about its presence in the Upper House shrinking while that of its primary rival, the Centre-ruling BJP, is going up.
The DMK is sure to drive a hard bargain, with sources in the party indicating that if it were to allot a Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress, the demands for more number of seats would not be entertained.
The already crowded alliance recently added the DMDK to its fold, which means more claimants for the seats.
Earlier in the day, the seat-sharing talks in the ruling alliance formally commenced on Sunday, with the senior leaders of the DMK holding first-round negotiations with the IUML, a smaller ally, at the party headquarters.