The AIADMK's stand is that it cannot give 50 seats that the DMDK is demanding.

CHENNAI: The power dynamics of alliance formation is fast changing in the state as it gets closer to the assembly polls. The two Dravidian majors, the DMK and the AIADMK, have bounced back from a state of desperation. They were wooing allies into their fold till recently, but not anymore. They now exude confidence, as though having regained much of their lost ground. Both have turned tough negotiators with two prominent regional players the PMK and the DMDK.

The PMK's efforts to drive a hard bargain with the DMK, demanding 40 plus seats, has evoked only a nonchalant response from the elder partner. DMK president and chief minister M Karunanidhi has been maintaining a stoic silence on what he intends to concede to the PMK. A senior PMK leader told TOI, "We were the first to finalise seat sharing in most of the recent polls. But this time, the DMK leadership is indifferent to us. They do not even acknowledge that our party has refrained from attacking them on the spectrum issue. When our president GK Mani called on Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) on the last day of the assembly session, he said talks with the PMK were possible only after finalising the deal with the Congress." Even scaling down the demand to 35 seats has not helped the PMK much.

Having contested 31 seats as part of a greater alliance (DMK, Congress, PMK, CPI and CPM) in 2006, the PMK feels its demand for more seats in a relatively smaller front (without the Left parties) is justified. But the DMK's poser is why it be should be charitable to a party that came a cropper in the 2009 parliamentary polls. The DMK has indicated that the PMK should be satisfied with 23 seats, five more than its current strength in the assembly. The party leader, S Ramadoss, is unhappy with the offer.

The DMK knows for sure that the PMK does not have any other option. The AIADMK front is already crowded with the CPI, the CPM and Vaiko's MDMK in it. The DMDK is also likely to join the front. And, the PMK would hardly risk contesting on its own. "The party has to come to us, but only on our terms," said a senior DMK leader.

The position of the DMDK is no better either. The dark horse of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls was sitting pretty, sought after by both the major fronts. With DMDK leader Vijaykanth's continued verbal aggression against the ruling party, more so against the chief minister, he narrowed down the option - either going alone or allying with the AIADMK. DMDK presidium chairman Panruti S Ramachandran ruled out the party contesting on its own and even went to the extent of giving a call to all anti-DMK forces to unite. That was a month ago. But AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa has turned a deaf ear to Panruti's clarion call thus far.

A senior DMDK leader said, "We can make any amount of noise. We have also explained what our demand is. But what do you do when the AIADMK leadership is not even willing to reveal how many seats it is ready to give us? We know for sure that no party can come to power in the state without our support. Let us wait and see how the game is played out."

The AIADMK's stand is that it cannot give 50 seats that the DMDK is demanding. A senior AIADMK leader said, "We will respond only if they come down to a realistic figure."

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com