DMK and Congress begin seat-sharing talks

The Congress is learnt to have demanded a share in power in the seat-sharing talks with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) here on Sunday.

A common minimum programme for a coalition government in Tamil Nadu and forming a coordination committee were among the proposals mooted by the Congress. The DMK is said to have told the Congress that it had to discuss the matter with party president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, according to sources.

In the 75-minute-long talks at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, the ruling party was represented by Deputy Chief Minister and DMK treasurer, M.K. Stalin, Ministers Arcot N. Veeraswami, Durai Murugan, K. Ponmudy and the DMK parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu, while the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan and AICC national secretary and K. Jayakumar, MLA, represented the Congress.

Mr. Thangkabalu told mediapersons that the talks were cordial and satisfactory. "We discussed every aspect threadbare. We will convey to our respective leaderships the details of our deliberations," he said. The second round of talks would be held "in a day or two," Mr Thangkabalu said. Mr Stalin endorsed Mr. Thangkabalu's remarks.

When reporters asked about the number of seats, identification of constituencies and power-sharing, Mr. Thangkabalu said, "We will let you know all these things after the next [...]