The Congress high command is believed to have communicated to the DMK that its strength was being underestimated by the senior ally in Tamil Nadu — while it was allotted 41 Assembly seats in 2016, this figure was reduced to 25 in the last election.
Congress sources in New Delhi and Chennai claimed that party leader Rahul Gandhi had expressed his displeasure to DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi when she met him in New Delhi recently. “Rahul said that the Congress’s strength was being underestimated by the DMK. He has demanded 41 seats... similar to what was allotted to the party in 2016,” a source said.
Girish Chodankar, head of the Tamil Nadu Congress’s seat negotiation committee, is reportedly driving a hard bargain, according to State sources, and would lead the negotiations with the DMK, which is expected to constitute a committee to discuss seat sharing with the allies.
“The demand for a share in power is definitely on the table... the Congress leadership in New Delhi feels that when a supposedly undemocratic [Prime Minister] Modi can include his allies in the government, why can’t the DMK do the same? Ms. Kanimozhi has apparently explained it wouldn’t work in Tamil Nadu and it would weaken the alliance, and that these discussions could be had after the elections,” sources said.
