Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 30 : DMK MP Kanimozhi on Friday said talks between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Indian National Congress were progressing smoothly.
Speaking to reporters here, she said, "The party leader will make an announcement after all discussions are concluded."
This comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and DMK MP Kanimozhi met in the national capital to discuss the alliance roadmap ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The meeting held on Wednesday, initiated by the DMK as part of outreach to its ally, the Congress, did not reach a conclusion.
The two leaders met for almost an hour, but no numbers were discussed. Rahul Gandhi urged Kanimozhi to discuss the matters with the team of leaders set up by the Congress president to formalise things. The meeting remained pleasant, according to a source in the Congress party.
The two-decade-old alliance partners in the State are uncomfortable this time in the Assembly polls, as the Congress party's state leadership is demanding a share of power in the government, which the DMK has not offered.
When many of the leaders advocated for the Jharkhand formula to be implemented in Tamil Nadu as well, the AICC leadership called a meeting of all the important leaders of the state to know their views. It was left to the leadership to make the final call after every leader had been heard.
On alliance with DMK, Tamil Nadu AICC In-charge Girish Chodankar told ANI, "We are waiting for the DMK's response because alliance talks have not started yet. We have been waiting for them for the last two months. Our opposition is working very aggressively."
"We formed an alliance committee in November. We have requested that, by 15 December, the alliance talks be closed and the alliance sealed. I'm not sure why there is a delay. We are hopeful that they will conclude these alliance talks quickly," he said.
The developments come as Tamil Nadu is scheduled to hold elections in the first half of this year, although the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not yet announced the official election schedule. Meanwhile, in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the DMK won 133 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Congress won 18, PMK won 5, VCK won 4, and others won 8.