CHENNAI: Amid a demand for more constituencies within the ruling alliance, the DMK on Wednesday signed a seat-sharing agreement with the CPI for five Assembly seats, one less than what the party was allotted in the 2021 elections, while the CPM continued to press for more than six seats.
After three rounds of seat-sharing talks, both Left parties had initially declined the DMK’s offer of five seats and sought six or more constituencies for the ensuing April 23 Assembly elections. However, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian signed the agreement in the presence of DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin at Anna Arivalayam.
“After finalising the agreement with the CPI, we approached the CPM leadership. However, they are still firm in their demand for more seats. Talks are continuing,” a DMK source said.
Veerapandian said the reduction in seats might disappoint party workers, but the party had prioritised the larger political objective.
“Our politics goes beyond the number of seats. At times, we may step beyond our own claims for the larger political objective of defeating the BJP. But we will never step away from our ideological position,” he said.
On the internal discussions within the party, he said functionaries had argued that the CPI had a legitimate claim for additional seats and that the party had pressed for at least six constituencies during negotiations. However, considering the political situation and the need to maintain alliance unity, the party decided to accept five seats.
Sources in the CPM said the CPI had been discussing with it on a common approach towards the DMK’s offer of five seats. However, the CPI suddenly decided to accept the offer and signed the agreement with the DMK.
A senior CPM leader said the party had not accepted the offer of five seats. “We remain firm in our demand for more than six seats. Let the DMK decide on our demand and call the next round of meetings,” the leader said.
The stalemate with the CPM has delayed the DMK’s negotiations with other alliance partners, including the VCK, DMDK and Kamal Haasan-led MNM, with whom only one round of discussions has been held so far.
The DMK leadership is keen to finalise all seat-sharing arrangements before Ramzan, as the election schedule leaves little time for further delay.
The nomination process is set to begin on March 30 and conclude on April 6, leaving about a week for the party to complete the remaining election preparations.
The ruling party is also planning to release its manifesto and candidate list next week once the alliance arrangements are finalised.