Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and DMK MP Kanimozhi met in Delhi on Wednesday, but the discussion did not lead to any breakthrough on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
The meeting, held at 10 Janpath, focused more on process than numbers.
Congress sources said Rahul urged the DMK leadership to engage with the committee formed by party president Mallikarjun Kharge to resolve outstanding issues related to seat-sharing.
“It was a pleasant meeting and no number for seat sharing was discussed but an emphasis was made on showing respect for Congress,” a party source said.
At the core of the disagreement is the Congress’s demand for a larger role in the alliance. Leaders in the state unit are pressing for a substantial increase in the number of seats they contest and a clearer share in power if the alliance returns to office.
The DMK, however, is reluctant to go beyond the arrangement reached in 2021, when the Congress contested 25 seats and won 18. Despite the current deadlock, both sides appear keen to keep the alliance intact.
DMK chief and chief minister M. K. Stalin is known to share a cordial relationship with the Congress leadership, and sources indicated that a resolution is likely.
At the same time, some Congress leaders have begun to discuss actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) as a possible alternative alliance partner, even as the central leadership remains inclined to fight the election alongside the DMK.
Tamil Nadu is expected to go to the polls in April–May, leaving limited time for prolonged negotiations.