Ghulam Nabi Azad may bargain for seats at MK meet today

Chennai: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who meets DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday will have a tough task ahead when the talks proceed to seat sharing for the forthcoming Assembly elections as the party’s bargaining capacity has come down following a rout in the 2014 Parliament elections and a subsequent split in the state unit. Though, the meeting is described as a ‘courtesy call’, it is expected to renew ties between the old partners in the UPA ministry from 2004 to 2014.

Azad, who has handled the previous poll negotiations with the Dravidian party, has successfully extracted 63 seats in the 2011 Assembly polls and 48 seats in 2006. Local Congress leaders expect him to come out with a similar deal and obtain 50 to 60 seats from the DMK chief. But, much water has flown in the Adyar river since 2011 as the Congress strength has come down in the last five years. The Congress which contested 63 seats in 2011 managed to win just five.

The 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw the Congress securing less than four per cent votes in 139 Assembly segments. It had actually secured less than two per cent votes in 29 segments, while ending up with less than three per cent votes in 54 constituencies. The party’s vote share slumped to 4.33 per cent, its lowest in TN where it had ruled for three terms till 1967. Besides, the party suffered a split after the Lok Sabha poll with former Union minister GK Vasan walking out to revive his late father Moopanar’s Tamil Maanila Congress.

Besides, the DMK is unlikely to begin the seat sharing talks without knowing the decision of actor Vijayakant’s DMDK. The number of constituencies for the Congress could be decided only after knowing whether the DMDK will be part of the alliance or not, says a DMK functionary. He said it would be too early to comment since the Congress is yet to officially renew the electoral ties. “Seat-sharing talks can be started only when all the parties in the alliance are known. It is too early to comment on the number of seats the DMK can give to the Congress. It will not be proper to comment on the electoral strength of a prospective ally”.

Another DMK leader said the Congress secured over 15 per cent votes in the 2009 Parliament elections and was allocated 63 seats in 2011 Assembly polls. Its vote bank in 2014 Lok Sabha polls has dwindled to less than one third of what it secured previously. Going by this calculation, the number of seats allotted for it should be around 20. Besides, the DMK should satisfy the demands of Vijayakant who is also seeking higher number of seats, he added.