The PMK’s Salem West MLA, R. Arul, was sent on Sunday as an emissary to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s residence here to discuss a possible seat-sharing agreement between the two parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
According to PMK sources, the conversation was “fruitful” and the AIADMK’s seat-sharing committee led by its Villupuram strongman C. Ve. Shanmugam would likely visit PMK founder S. Ramadoss in his Thailapuram residence on Monday.
PMK sources said that in the discussion, which lasted an hour, Mr. Palaniswami was informed of the party’s desire to contest in seven seats and get one Rajya Sabha seat as part of the AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu, akin to the agreement between the two parties during the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Then, the National Democratic Alliance as a whole had lost in all the seats barring the Theni Lok Sabha seat, where former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s son P. Ravindranath had won.
The sources further said that no specific demands were put forth on behalf of the party, contrary to speculation that it had urged the AIADMK to part with the Salem Lok Sabha seat. With the Election Commission announcing March 28 as the last day to file nominations for phase 1 of thepoll, it is expected that the PMK, which was believed to have been speaking to the BJP too, would decide on the alliance in the next few days. In the 2019 election, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss lost his Dharmapuri seat to the DMK’s Senthilkumar. Later, Dr. Anbumani became a Rajya Sabha member.
Meanwhile, DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant has invited applications from aspiring candidates for 40 Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
