DMK stuns Congress party with allotment ranging from 4 to 11 per cent

Chennai: Congress leaders are in a state of shock over the allocation of wards to the party in three corporations as the Dravidian ally stunned the national party with allotment ranging from four to 11 per cent in three of the corporations.

The DMK has allotted just four per cent of wards for Congress in Tiruchy, eight per cent in Salem and 11 per cent in Tuticorin, a southern district, where the Congress is said to have a sizeable vote bank. The announcement set up emergency meetings of state Congress leaders including TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar. The Congress leader who rushed to meet DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin later met reporters and denied problems in the alliance. There is time till October 3 and problems would be sorted out, he added.

With faction leaders in Congress hoping to get as many wards for their supporters as possible, the state Congress has come under tremendous pressure to get more wards. Besides, the party high command is against forming a deal with a meagre share and resort to tough negotiations to get a decent share of at least 15 per cent throughout the state.

The allotment of wards for the Congress is not uniform, but varies from district to district, making it clear that a state level percentage for Congress had not been worked out. The Congress was given 17.5 per cent seats in the recent Assembly elections, but won just three per cent of the total Assembly seats.

The most shocking news came from Tiruchy, the major metropolis in the Cauvery delta, as Congress has got just three of the 65 wards, which works out to about 4 per cent. The Congress was not able to win a single seat in the entire delta region in the last Assembly polls.

In Salem, the Congress had been allocated five wards, which would be eight per cent. The Congress is considered to be stronger in the western region than the northern and eastern districts. Even the southern district of Tuticorin, where the Congress has a sizeable vote share, it was given just 11 per cent of the wards as it got only seven out of the 60 wards.

The DMK also released the list of its candidates for the three corporations, while the full list would be out in two days since talks are on to finalise the nominees for the other corporations, municipalities and town panchayats.