AIADMK keeps 'winnable' constituencies

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI, APRIL 7. Taking the allies completely by surprise, the AIADMK today released its list of 141 seats for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls despite persisting dispute over a large number of constituencies.

Keeping for itself most of the ``winnable seats'' in the southern and western belts, the AIADMK asked the allies to take ten of the 14 seats in Chennai city, a stronghold of the DMK.

The AIADMK list, released in the evening even before the conclusion of talks with the allies, includes several of the constituencies sought by the TMC, the Congress and the CPI. More importantly, some of the sitting constituencies of the TMC and the CPI have now been appropriated.

As the AIADMK needed a minimum of 118 from its 141 seats to realise the stated intention of forming a government on its own, the party set apart the riskier seats for the allies.

The AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, also announced two seats for the minor allies, the Dalit outfit Tamizhaga Munnetra Kazhagam of Mr. John Pandian (Egmore in Chennai) and the All- India Forward Bloc of Mr. L. Santhanam (Usilampatti).

Congress and TMC leaders were baffled when the list was released as they had not completed negotiations with the members of the AIADMK election committee. They had submitted their choice of constituencies to the AIADMK committee only this afternoon.

Indeed, the TMC leaders expressed ``disappointment'' as 21 of the 39 seats their party won in the last Assembly election now figure in the AIADMK list.

The constituencies of quite a few senior leaders including that of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. S. Balakrishnan (Mudukulathur) have been taken by the AIADMK. Another significant ``loss'' for the TMC was the Pongalur constituency, from where the former Union Minister, Mr. S.R. Balasubramaniam was elected in 1991. Now, he will have to settle for an urban constituency in Coimbatore if he desires to contest on his home turf.

As for the Congress, even in Chennai, where the party did not want to contest too many seats, it was not given the seats of its choice. While it had sought Royapuram and R.K.Nagar, the AIADMK offered Park Town and Triplicane, sources said.

However, the TMC is trying to bargain for at least 10 more of its existing constituencies and if not ``good alternative seats.'' For instance, the party is seeking the Kadaladi seat for the Mr. Balakrishnan.

The Congress, which did not win a single seat in the last election, is ``upset'' that it was not allotted a single seat in Erode, Salem and Namakkal districts. It was offered Udhagamandalam and Coonoor in the western districts when it sought the Singanallur and Palladam constituencies.

The CPI, which wanted to retain all its existing seats, now finds three of these, Tirupur, Nanguneri and Perundurai, in the AIADMK list. Interestingly, the CPI MLA of Tirupur, Mr. K. Subbaroyan, is known to be a harsh critic of the AIADMK.

Similarly, the supporters of the DMK in the TMC have been deprived of their seats. These include Mrs. A.S. Ponnammal, a seven-time winner of Nilakottai, Mr. A. Chellakumar, who won from T.Nagar in Chennai in the last election, and Mr. Azhagar Raja, Theni MLA.

For the CPI(M), the dispute is over Perambur in Chennai. The party seeks another seat elsewhere, but the AIADMK wants it to contest at least one seat from Chennai. Indeed, the AIADMK made this a condition for all the major allies arguing that it could not be expected to take on the burden of fighting all the tough battles.

Leaders of the Left parties were however hopeful of some ``adjustments'' in the list. According to them, Ms. Jayalalitha was keen on releasing the list today as it was an auspicious day. Therefore, they believe, there could still be room for talks to get their preferred constituencies.

The AIADMK is contesting close to 50 seats from the south, its bastion. Besides, it is fighting in most of the rural consituencies in the western parts including the Nilgiris, Gobichettipalayam, Coimbatore, Palani and Pollachi. Indeed, the party wrested as many as nine seats from the TMC in this region.

Ilayankudi, sought by the former Minister, Mr. M. Tamizhkudimagan, who defected to the AIADMK recently, was kept by the AIADMK. The prime reason for his defection was denial of the seat to him by the DMK.

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Section  : Southern States
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