Tamil Nadu Assembly election: CPI (M) unrelenting in demand for six seats, stalemate in talks with DMK continues

The CPI(M) has refused to relent on its demand for six Assembly seats, though the ruling DMK is prepared to offer only five. There is also uncertainty over the continuation of the party in the alliance if six seats are not allotted to it.

Even after three rounds of talks, the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement, as the CPI(M) State committee has taken a firm stand against settling for five seats. “We have conveyed the decision of the State committee to the DMK leadership,” CPI(M) State secretary P. Shanmugam said on Thursday.

He added that even during the previous election, the DMK had indicated that it would offer more seats in the next election. “But that has not happened. We are answerable to the State committee, and not to any individuals in the party. The DMK plans to contest around 170 seats; it could reconsider its allocation,” he said.

When asked whether the party would leave the alliance, Mr. Shanmugam said, “So far, there is no change in the party’s political stand on supporting the DMK alliance to defeat the BJP and its allies.”

The DMK’s argument is that it cannot part with more seats as it has accommodated additional parties in the alliance, and has already given three more seats to the Congress. It has allotted only five seats to the CPI, which had contested six seats in the 2021 Assembly election.

The DMK is keen on finalising its pact with the CPI(M) before proceeding with talks with the VCK and the DMDK. The VCK, which was allotted six seats in 2021, is likely to be given a couple more, while the DMDK has already been allotted a Rajya Sabha seat. The party is now demanding double-digit Assembly seats, but the DMK has asked its leader Premallatha Vijayakant to scale down the demand.

The DMK leadership does not want to create a situation in which it would be reduced to a minority in the Assembly, as had happened in the 2006 election.

At that time, it depended on the Congress and the PMK for support, and the late AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa often referred to it as a “minority DMK government”.