MDMK likely to get four or five seats in DMK alliance

With the Assembly elections round the corner, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) has decided to go ahead with either four or five Assembly seats offered by the DMK for the upcoming elections.

At the MDMK’s high-level meeting held at the party headquarters in Egmore here on Wednesday, senior leaders including party general secretary Vaiko, headquarters secretary and Tiruchi Lok Sabha member Durai Vaiko, among others participated and held discussions on seat-sharing with the DMK for the Assembly polls.

The meeting lasted for more than three hours, during which leaders also discussed the party’s strategy for the upcoming elections. The MDMK had initially demanded 12 seats from the DMK and was later willing to scale it down to 10 seats, according to party sources.

However, party sources said, the DMK has offered only four or five seats, fewer than the number of seats contested by the MDMK in the 2021 Assembly election and has asked the party to contest on the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol, similar to the previous Assembly poll. The MDMK had won four of the six Assembly segments it contested in 2021.

“The entry of new parties has further strengthened the alliance. If the DMK offers five seats, we are willing to contest four on the ‘Rising Sun’ symbol and one on our own symbol. A similar arrangement is being considered if the offer is limited to four seats,” a MDMK leader said, adding the seat-sharing talks between the two parties are expected to conclude within a few days.