Seat-sharing cloud over Congress-DMK alliance

Chennai : The seven-year-old alliance between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance in Tamil Nadu seems to have hit a roadblock ahead of the state polls over the issue of seat-sharing.

Even after three rounds of discussions, the stalemate continues as the Congress demands a larger chunk of constituencies to contest on and also inclusion in the government.

But Chief Minister and DMK head Karunanidhi refuses to give in to the demands of the Congress, which give 48 seats last time.

?Both parties had agreed that the Congress would get 51 seats. But the DMK offered 60 seats. Is it right to demand 63 seats? Is it fair for the Congress to decide on the constituencies it would contest?? he was quoted as saying.

The stability of the Congress-DMK alliance has been in focus since DMK?s A Raja, the former telecoms minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, began to face heat over the 2G spectrum scandal.

With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe extending to Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi in the last few weeks, the relations between the two parties don?t seem to have come out any stronger.