Jaya seals poll deal

Aiming to win the maximum number of seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections,the Opposition front finally set sail on...

Aiming to win the maximum number of seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections,the Opposition front finally set sail on Thursday,coming out with the list of seats of each of its constituents.

Alliance leader and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa inked an agreement with ally MDMK on Thursday,putting an end to the uncertainty that had threatened to rock the alliance at one point. The junior partner has been allotted four constituencies,including two of its preferred seats.

The AIADMK,which was quick to seal a pact with the PMK,took its time in allotting seats to the Left parties,particularly the CPI(M),while the worst was reserved for its longest standing partner,the MDMK.

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The weeks of uncertainty prompted the MDMK to explore other options in the face of disappointment and humiliation,though the air was cleared on Thursday when the AIADMK gave in to MDMK leader Vaikos demand for four seats,same as it contested the last time. As per the final tally,the AIADMK will contest 23 seats,PMK gets seven including Puducherry,MDMK gets four and the CPI and CPI(M) three each.

Arch rivals DMK and AIADMK will face each other in 10 seats,whereas the AIADMK will take on the Congress in as many as 11 seats including those contested by Union ministers P Chidambaram,Mani Shankar Aiyer and E V K S Elangovan,if he decides to contest from Tirupur.

The CPI(M) will face the DMK in Madurai and Kanyakumari and the Congress in Coimbatore. The CPI is contesting from North Chennai,Nagapattinam (both against the DMK) and will face the Congress at Tenkasi. The PMK will contest from Sriperumbudur,Arakkonam,Dharmapuri,Tiruvannamalai,Kallakkurichi (all against DMK); against VCKs Thol Thirumavalavan at Chidambaram and against the Congress in Puducherry.

Taken together,the alliance formulations in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections offer an insight into the value of partnerships,at least during the time of elections.

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As DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi displayed brilliantly last time,a clever alliance is an electoral gestalt that can bring in the necessary numbers,a lesson Jaya learnt the hard way in 2004 when her alliance lost all 40 seats in the state.