BJP, DMDK reach seat-sharing agreement

NEW DELHI: BJP and DMDK are believed to have finalised the seat-sharing agreement for Tamil Nadu after a brief hiccup in their negotiations.

"The talks between the two parties are reaching the final stage," BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu, told on the phone from Hyderabad.

He, however, refused to reveal the details of the deal, which he said would be announced later.

DMDK sources said the alliance talks with BJP were concluded this afternoon.

Actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth, who heads DMDK, was personally involved in the negotiations that took place over the last two days, the party sources said.

The two parties are understood to have reached a deal that DMDK would contest from 14 seats while the rest of 39 seats would be shared among other alliance partners.

The move comes as a huge relief for the BJP, as it was struggling to cobble up the alliance for over a month with DMDK, PMK and MDMK.

Another BJP leader from Tamil Nadu claimed that the talks had run into rough weather yesterday after DMDK refused to part with Tiruchirappalli and Tirupur seats, the two constituencies, which the BJP feels has better clout.

The talks between two parties were revived this morning, thanks to the intervention of the Vijaykanth.