Stalin assures he "will take care" of seat-sharing after ruling out power sharing with allies; Congress says alliance "very strong"

This came after the DMK chief ruled out any shared governance model with the party allies amid the reports of Congress demanding ministerial berths in the government. Congress maintained that the alliance remains "very strong" and reiterated that the party will hold alliance talks on February 22.

Addressing the DMK Booth Committee Training Conference in the Chengalpattu district, Stalin urged party workers to work with a strong sense of unity among the alliance partners.

"As for alliance arrangements, seat-sharing, and candidate selection, I will take care of that. You need not worry. Whoever contests in whichever constituency, work as if Stalin himself is the candidate in all 234 constituencies. Without unity, we cannot achieve our goal. Therefore, we must work with a strong sense of unity among our alliance partners," Stalin said.

This came after Stalin ruled out power-sharing with the alliance's partners. "A share in governance is a demand that does not apply to Tamil Nadu. They know it better than us. That slogan is nothing but a calculated conspiracy by those who cannot stand to see us united," he said

However, the Tamil Nadu CM signalled that the Congress would continue to be a partner when the state goes to the hustings.

"Congress will certainly remain in the DMK alliance. Our alliance is cordial. It is the media that is deliberately creating certain unnecessary perceptions," he said.

Reacting to Stalin's statement, Tamil Nadu Congress president K Selvaperunthagai said that the alliance led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was "extremely strong".

"The INDIA alliance is very strong. The DMK-led alliance is an extremely strong alliance. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will win again and achieve consecutive victories," Selvaperunthagai said while talking to reporters at Chennai airport.

"We sincerely thank the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for accepting our request and inviting alliance parties for constituency-sharing talks on the 22nd, after the Assembly session," he added.

DMK spokesperson said the party would abide by Chief Minister MK Stalin's decision that coalition governance is not suitable for the state.

Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Elangovan said, "We have to go by the decision of our party president. Beyond that, I have nothing to say on that." He dismissed suggestions that such comments could strain ties between the DMK and Congress, asserting that only official party leadership views matter.

"Their leaders have not talked about this. Neither the AICC president nor the TNCC president had talked about this. We are answerable only to the official presidents, not to each and every person," he said.

On seat-sharing talks, Elangovan confirmed that discussions would begin soon. "We know when to start. We are in a coalition since 1962... the talks were always smooth. Every party has an ambition to contest in more seats, but we must be practical and see what will ensure victory to the alliance," he added.

Congress MP from Virudhunagar, Manickam Tagore played the ball back to the CM, saying that the decision would be taken by the people.

In a post on X, Tagore said, "The people will decide. Coalition government? Or one-party government. It is our Tamil Nadu Congress' mistake not to implement the people's verdict in 2006."

Congress MP Jothimani said, "Every party has its own view on coalition govts. DMK and Congress are separate parties with distinct views on coalitions. Congress has formed a committee for this. The CM (MK Stalin) has his own view. In our committee, alliance talks will commence on 22nd February."

Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty refused to comment on the party's negotiations on power sharing but asserted that there is "first time for everything".

"I cannot comment on anything about alliance or negotiations or anything. Yes, it is true that so far Tamil Nadu has not had a coalition government at the state. So, that is true. But there is always a first time for everything. So, there is no hard and fast rule, nor is it the case that Tamil Nadu is unique," he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP, taking advantage of fissures in the alliance, stated that DMK and Congress want to "get rid of each other"

Predicting a "big split" in the INDIA bloc, BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said Congress wants to test its alliance with another party, as it believes DMK will not return to power.

"Congress feels that DMK will not come back to power, and they don't want to go with DMK, and they want to test their alliance with someone else, that's what they are planning. And both of them want to get rid of each other in such a way that they want to blame others. That's what the INDI alliance is doing. A big split is going to happen," Narayanan Thirupathy told ANI.

The public posturing is likely to continue as the DMK has called for a meeting on February 22 to discuss the contours of the election. A probable discussion on the number of berths for allies is also likely to take place.

The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will go to the polls in the first half of the year. The DMK won 133 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Congress won 18, PMK won 5, VCK won 4, and others won 8. (ANI)