The ruling DMK has offered five seats to its ally CPM for the forthcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the Left party’s state secretary P. Shanmugam said on Sunday.
Seat-sharing talks between the DMK and CPM, which have been going on for the last 20 days, saw a new development with DMK president M.K. Stalin personally joining the negotiations. “... this is the first time chief minister (M.K. Stalin) took part and requested us to accept the 5 seats offered by them,” Shanmugam told reporters.
He noted that in the 2021 Assembly elections, the Left parties — CPI and CPM — contested in six seats each. “The CPM has been asking for double-digit allocation. With more parties joining the front, the DMK said providing more seats is difficult.” The chief minister cited constraints with the expansion of the Secular Progressive Alliance.
According to Shanmugam, Stalin himself reiterated the challenges of seat allocation in a large alliance and urged the CPM to remain in the front while accepting his offer.
Following the DMK’s stand, the CPM’s state committee met twice and decided not to insist on more than 6 seats. “Since the current alliance has been strengthened with the arrival of new allies, we decided not to push for more than 6 seats. Our executive committee authorised us to secure at least 6 seats we contested in the 2021 Assembly polls,” he said.
The CPM leadership has conveyed that its executive committee will meet soon and take a final decision.