Congress announces panel for seat sharing talks with DMK

The Congress has named a panel to hold seat sharing talks with the DMK (Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam) for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, scheduled to be held in May, party sources said today.

Announced late last night, the five-member Congress panel, which includes Home Minister P Chidambaram, Shipping Minister G K Vasan and TNCC president K V Thangkabalu, will hold talks with its ally DMK on the number of seats and constituencies, they added.
The Congress panel will also comprise party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan and Namakkal legislator K Jayakumar.
Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, in-charge of party affairs in the state, and Union Minister Vayalar Ravi were expected to finalise the number of seats with the DMK leadership, they said.
The announcement of the panel comes amid rumours of a crack in the Congress-DMK alliance in the wake of the arrest of former Communications Minister A Raja in connection with the alleged 2G spectrum scam.
The Congress and the DMK had entered into an alliance in 2004 and contested the Lok Sabha elections that year, 2006 Assembly elections and the 2009 general elections together.