Tamil Nadu Congress chief breaks down after party seniors were 'insulted' by ally DMK

Tamil Nadu Congress chief KS Alagiri allegedly broke down while he was narrating the ordeal during the first-round of seat-sharing talks with DMK and revealed that senior leaders of his party were insulted during the discussion, as per sources. Deadlock continues between allies DMK and Congress over seat-sharing for the upcoming Assembly elections, with the latter demanding a 'respectable' number of seats while the former is reportedly willing to give just 26 seats to the grand old party. According to sources, the Congress leader broke into tears while he was describing the first round of talks with DMK and allegedly claimed that senior Congress leaders were insulted. 

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Reports on Thursday also suggested a meeting between Congress and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), triggering speculations of the DMK ally possibly joining the third front in the making ahead of polls in Tamil Nadu. However, TNCC chief KS Alagiri dismissed the reports and maintained that it was for DMK to decide on seat-sharing between the two allies and said that the ball was in their court. The speculated Third Front is most likely to be led by Kamal Haasan along with other allies opposing the Dravidian parties and their allies. 

Replying to a question, KS Alagiri denied the Congress had made a 'climb-down' on the number of seats it sought from the DMK. Some issues needed to be resolved only through dialogue and there was no room for a bargain among allies, he said. On party leader Rahul Gandhi not speaking about the DMK alliance during his recent campaign in Tamil Nadu, he said the assembly election was all about propaganda against the governments at the state and Centre, led by allies the AIADMK and the BJP respectively.

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DMK allocates 6 seats to VCK

Earlier on Thursday, DMK allocated six seats to its ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and three seats to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Moreover, as MK Stalin eyes a maiden term as the Tamil Nadu CM, the DMK has allocated two seats to the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK). DMK-Congress will have to finalize a formula soon as the last date to file the nominations is approaching which is on March 19.

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DMK's campaign for Tamil Nadu polls

Setting 200+ seat-target for the upcoming 2021 polls, DMK Chief M K Stalin has launched the "WeRejectADMK" campaign calling it "lack of governance" by the Palaniswami government and touching sensitive issues such as the NEET-related suicides, holding gram sabhas across the state. Holding gram Sabhas across Tamil Nadu, Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi and sister Kanimozhi have met people from all 234 constituencies to know the 10 years of the misrule of the ADMK Government and hear the people's sufferings. Congress too has bolstered DMK's efforts with Rahul Gandhi visiting the state thrice in the past 3 months - holding meeting with students, weavers, fishermen, farmers, MSME workers etc.

READ | Congress-DMK Deadlock Over Seat-sharing Continues; KS Alagiri Refutes Talking To 3rd Front