With allies demanding more than what they can chew and punching above their weight, there is a stalemate in the NDA in Tamil Nadu on holding formal seat-sharing talks and to break the impasse AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), heading the alliance in the state, has left for the national capital to meet the BJP national leadership.
The formal seat-sharing talks have been delayed by the AIADMK apparently due to the heightened demand from the BJP and other constituents which, if conceded, would reduce the number of seats that the Dravidian major could contest, leaving many aspirants from the party disappointed. This is said to be the reason for EPS postponing the constitution of the party committee to hold talks with the allies, including the BJP.
In the national capital, EPS is expected to hold discussions with Union Home Minister and chief BJP strategist Amit Shah to break the impasse as election dates for the assembly poll are expected to be announced any time soon. Significantly, he left for Delhi a day after the Madurai NDA rally of Prime Minister Modi. BJP leaders exuded confidence that seat sharing would be finalised coinciding with the PM’s visit. But the talks held by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, in Charge of Tamil Nadu, proved to be inconclusive and the AIADMK was said to be dragging its feet. This has caused heartburn among the allies as the DMK has started the formal process with its alliance constituents.
In order to expand its footprint in the Dravidian heartland, the saffron party, which had contested 20 seats in 2021 in the AIADMK alliance, is believed to be demanding not less than 35 seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) of Anbumani is pressing for 18 seats, the AMMK of TTV Dhinakaran is batting for 10 seats. The Tamil Maanila Congress of former Union Minister GK Vasan is demanding 6 seats. Apart from this, minor allies have also hiked their share. Conceding these demands would force the AIADMK to give up 81 seats and contest only in 153 seats, making it difficult to satisfy aspirants from its own ranks. In the 234 member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the party contested 179 seats last time.