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No decision yet on which 12 seats go to Cong in TN

Even after three rounds of talks the Congress-I and the AIADMK have failed to identify the 12 Lok Sabha constituencies which the Congress-I would contest in Tamil Nadu as a partner in the AIADMK-led front.

The Congress-I has been allocated 12 of the 40 lok sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry by the AIADMK.

The agreement reached between AIADMK chief, J Jayalalitha and Congress-I working committee members Manmohan Singh and A K Antony on July 14, however, did not identify the constituencies.

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president, Tindivanam K Ramamurthy, told reporters after a two-hour talk at the TNCC headquarters that the deliberations went on without any hitch.

Ramamurthy evaded a query whether any agreement had been reached on the constituencies his party would contest. He said he would report the outcome of the talks to his party high command and a decision on whether or not to have another round of talks would be taken by the high command.

Ramamurthy described as "speculation," press reports that there were conflicting claims over various constituencies.

Asked whether Salem constituency from where former union minister, K V Thangabalu, contested last time remained a contentious one, he said all 40 Lok Sabha seats were contentious ones as both the parties had a chance to win from any of them. Besides, Ramamurthy, party vice-president R Singaravadivelu and Thangabalu represented the Congress in the talks.

AIADMK deputy secretaries K A Sengottaiyan, Karuppasamy Pandyan and V Sathyamurthy represented the AIADMK.

The two sides met in two lengthy sessions at the AIADMK headquarters, yesterday.

Sengottaiyan and other party leaders declined to speak to the press as they emerged from the talks.

UNI

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