BJP closer to sewing grand alliance in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: After days of haggling over seat-sharing with its allies, BJP seems to be all set to firm up a formidable alliance in Tamil Nadu to fight the April 24 Lok Sabha polls.

Sources in BJP said the party is inching closer towards finalising a pact with cine star turned politician Vijayakanth's DMDK, Vaiko-led MDMK, PMK headed by Ramadoss, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and IJK.

The BJP president Rajnath Singh will formally announce the alliance and also the seat sharing agreement on Thursday.

According to the consensus reached among the allies, the major player DMDK will contest 14 seats, PMK and BJP 8 seats each, MDMK 7, Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and IJK one each.

However, the sources could not say whether the parties have agreed to certain key constituencies over which both DMDK and PMK have been staking claims.

An alternative plan for allotting seats has been worked out in consultation with allies. The plan was to allocate Thiruvannamalai seat to PMK, and allow DMDK to retain Salem.

The BJP has acceded to the demand from the DMDK to the Tirupur seat. While IJK is ready to contest from Perambalur, the Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, which was demanding Tirupur was likely to settle for Namakkal Parliamentary seat.

Kongunadu party Chief E R Eswaran, speaking to PTI, said he was hopeful of a positive outcome on seat sharing.