DMDK open to ‘give-and-take policy’ in seat-sharing

DMDK general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant on Monday said the party is open to a “give-and-take policy” on sharing seats with the DMK for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

During a conversation with journalists at the party headquarters in Chennai, when asked if the party was urged to reduce the number of seats in the DMK alliance, he said: “Captain (Vijayakant) was the Leader of the Opposition [2011-16]In Tamil Nadu, we have managed to form booth committees comparable to the DMK and AIADMK. “We will also ‘give and take’ for the sake of the greater interests of the alliance.” He said the alliance was formed as per the wishes of the party officials and the DMDK was waiting for the DMK to call the party for talks after the agreements with other allies were completed.

“We will contest in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry under the DMK alliance. Our district secretaries have been with us since 2006. We will discuss how we can win the seats allotted to us, take their suggestions and work together,” he said.

Ms. Premallatha reminded that DMDK had contested in all 234 assembly constituencies in the past and had a presence in every constituency. “We will soon announce the number of constituencies in which we will be contesting,” he said, adding: “Candidates know what it takes to win a House seat.”

He said that the main criterion for those who want to contest on the DMDK ticket will be “loyalty to the party”.