New Delhi: Cupboard posts, a bigger share of seats to contest, and a Rajya Sabha berth figured prominently in talks between Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Kanimozhi, a member of the DMK’s first household, as the 2 allies sought to deal with strains of their relationship, in response to folks aware of the discussions.

The assembly, held on Wednesday at 10, Janpath, was temporary however frank, the sources mentioned, with each leaders elevating long-simmering factors of friction. It concluded on a optimistic be aware, with an understanding that the alliance would maintain regardless of periodic provocations from factions inside each Congress and DMK.

“It was a candid dialogue. Mr Gandhi raised the difficulty of energy sharing, which has been demanded by a bit of the Congress. Kanimozhi defined the DMK’s causes for resisting these calls for and indicated that the social gathering was open to giving the Congress a bigger share of seats,” a supply mentioned.

Among the many most vocal advocates of power-sharing in Tamil Nadu has been Congress MP Manickam Tagore, the social gathering’s Lok Sabha whip and a detailed affiliate of Rahul’s. His persistence on the difficulty has fuelled the notion that the demand carries the tacit approval of the Congress excessive command.

On the identical time, one other Congress chief near Rahul, Praveen Chakravarty, has publicly praised Vijay and met the actor earlier this month, including to hypothesis a couple of attainable recalibration of alliance equations forward of the Tamil Nadu meeting elections due in about three months.

A number of different Congress leaders within the state have struck an identical be aware, invoking the necessity for “self-respect” inside the alliance. 

Karur MP Jothimani, additionally a member of Rahul’s core group, for example, mentioned in an announcement, “A coalition is constructed on ideas, mutual understanding, cooperation, belief and respect. There may be no compromise on these values. As a Member of Parliament from Karur, it’s my obligation to guard the self-respect of the Congress social gathering. Such disrespect can’t be simply neglected.”

Regardless of the inconclusive nature of the talks, Rahul assured Kanimozhi that the Congress remained dedicated to its partnership with the DMK, the sources mentioned. Kanimozhi, in flip, conveyed the DMK’s assurance that it might facilitate a Rajya Sabha berth for its ally from Tamil Nadu. 

The Congress, nevertheless, is eager to contest sufficient meeting seats to safe such a berth by itself, with out having to depend on the DMK.

Within the 2021 meeting elections, the DMK gained 133 of the state’s 234 constituencies, enabling it to type the federal government with out the help of allies. The Congress was allotted 25 seats and gained 18.

Kanimozhi is learnt to have indicated that the DMK was not averse to permitting the Congress to contest at the very least three extra seats. The Congress, nevertheless, is prone to push for as many as 42 seats, to make sure it has the minimal 34 MLAs required to elect a Rajya Sabha member independently.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)

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