TN polls: AIADMK steps back to please allies

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Friday worked to appease alliance partners miffed at its bold announcement of contesting on 160 of 234 seats for the coming Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

Faced with the prospect of two of its biggest allies — the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) — breaking off and standing against it, the AIADMK gave in to their wishlist and offered more seats, media reports said.

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa also reportedly increased its offer to the Vaiko-led Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) to 15 constituencies against the earlier nine. MDMK will huddle on Saturday to decide the offer is okay for it.

With state going to vote from Apr 13, Jayalalithaa is faced with the task of cobbling up a coalition of 14 parties and finalising seat sharing arrangements amid expectations that the AIADMK will leave about 100 for them.