Congress Woos DMDK: Thirunavukkarasar Meets Vijayakant in Chennai

The meeting assumes political importance since DMDK’s talks with AIADMK have proved unsuccessful so far.

(Photo: The News Minute)

Even as DMDK drives a hard bargain with the AIADMK demanding as many seats as the PMK, the Congress is attempting to woo Vijayakant into the DMK alliance. Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Thirunavukkarasar on Thursday, 21 February, met DMDK chief Vijayakant at his residence.

Speaking to reporters after the brief meeting, Thirunavukkarasar said that the meeting was a courtesy call to check on the DMDK Chief’s health, given the fact that the two leaders are long-time friends. However, the Congress leader also hinted that the meeting saw political discussions.

“He is a leader of a political party and I am also a politician. This is election time and when we meet if I say that we did not discuss about Tamil Nadu politics and current affairs, it would be a lie.”

Thirunavukkarasar

Adding that the two leaders spoke about general political scenario, he said that Vijayakant definitely knows how the country has been in the last four-and-a-half years. “I suggested that he take a good decision keeping in mind the welfare of the nation,” he said.

This meeting assumes political importance since DMDK has been negotiating hard with the ruling AIADMK, demanding as many seats as the PMK. However, the ruling party is reportedly not ready to part with anything more than four seats.

It was on Tuesday, 19 February, that Union Minister Piyush Goyal had met with Vijayakant at his residence in Chennai. Following the meeting, Piyush Goyal stated, "Every meeting need not be about alliance. We wished Vijayakant good health and long life and conveyed our leader's best wishes to him."

AIADMK had on Tuesday formalised its alliance with the BJP and the PMK, allocating five and seven Lok Sabha seats respectively. The PMK has also been promised one Rajya Sabha seat. Ramadoss' party had been negotiating with both the DMK and the AIADMK. However, PMK founder Ramadoss settled on the ruling party after it granted his party more seats.

A day later, the DMK announced its alliance with its long-time ally the Congress, offering it nine seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat of Puducherry. Seat-sharing talks with the VCK, MDMK, CPI and CPI(M) are underway and are likely to conclude soon.

(This story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished in an arrangement.)