Karunanidhi-Vasan talks keep Congress guessing

NEW DELHI: DMK leader M Karunanidhi is trying to woo Tamil Maanila Congress ( TMC) leader GK Vasan to join the alliance, after having failed to rope in Vijayakanth’s DMDK.

This has intriguingly paused the DMK-Congress seat-sharing talks. Karunanidhi’s overtures has come after he sensed the TMC leader’s difficulty in extricating a presentable deal with AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa.

DMK’s wooing of TMC has left the Congress anxious as Vasan could stake claim for a larger share of seats it has been negotiating for. TMC claims to have taken away a large chunk of the Congress vote share when Vasan revived his father the late GK Moopanar’s TMC.

Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin, micro-managing DMK’s poll preparation, is opposed to accepting the Congress demand as he feels that the Congress does not have a political and social base in TN. While Stalin is taking a hardline, Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi is the go-between the Congress and the DMK.

The Congress decision to opt for a solo run in the last Lok Sabha polls had resulted in a humiliating defeat. The DMK patriarch is also reportedly trying to patch up with his estranged son MK Alagiri who commands influence in the Madurai belt.

While it depends a lot on Stalin’s willingness to make up with his elder brother, in case of a family re-union, the DMK patriarch will have to allot some seats to Alagiri faction, even if it meant pinching on seats reserved for Congress.