Seat sharing talks between DMK, Congress cancelled

Chennai, Mar 3 (ANI): The stalemate in the seat sharing talks between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its ally, the Congress for Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu continues, as the meeting between All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and DMK chief M Karunanidhi was cancelled this morning.

The scheduled meeting was cancelled after Azad decided to rush to New Delhi for further consultations with the Congress leadership.

Before his departure, Azad told reporters here that he had a long discussion with Karunanidhi late last night.

"Whatever has come out of the discussion, I have to discuss with my leadership. "We will have another round of meetings soon", he added

Azad, who is in-charge of the party's Tamil Nadu affairs, arrived here on Wednesday after the Congress decided to adopt a practical approach as the talks between the five-member panel appointed by the high command and the DMK's election committee had failed to make any headway on the seat-sharing issue.

Delegations of both parties had held a second round of talks on February 25, but no progress was made. The Congress is insisting on the allocation of more seats.

The first round of the seat sharing talks between both was held on February 20.

Congress sources had earlier indicated that the party could settle for around 60 seats for the elections. The party had began negotiations with a demand of 80 plus seats out of the 234 seats up for grab's in the state.

There are only 17 days left for the filing of nominations to begin and the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission has given parties less time for campaigning as compared to earlier elections.

The DMK has completed the seat sharing exercise with minor allies like the PMK, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the IUML and the Movendar Munnetra Kazhagam. (ANI)