BJP, allies stuck in non-negotiable seats imbroglio

CHENNAI: Efforts to iron out glitches and finalise identification of seats in Tamil Nadu made little progress today with the BJP and its allies continuing to show rigidity in parting with certain constituencies, sources said.

While the BJP wants to field its state president Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari parliamentary seat, it wants certain other seats including South Chennai (senior leader L Ganesan, a strong contender) and Coimbatore (several aspirants for this seat).

Likewise, MDMK wants to field its chief Vaiko from Virudhunagar and has decided to renominate its sitting Lok Sabha MP A Ganesamoorthy from Erode.

Although Theni, Madurai and Thanjavur are among the MDMK's "wishlist of seats," the party has indicated that it was open for negotiation.

Among the constituencies from where the DMDK intends to field its candidates were Arani, Salem and Arakonam. The PMK, arguing that it had already named candidates for these seats last year itself, does not want to negotiate further on these constituencies. Krishanagiri is another constituency sought by PMK, BJP and the DMDK.

A senior BJP leader requesting anonymity said "it was a challenging situation" as the interests of all the parties had to be protected.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader L Ganesan speaking to reporters here said "issues could crop up in seat sharing. We are however determined to amicably settle this and declare the seat allocation on March 14."