Congress gets 9 LS seats in TN, one in Puducherry under DMK-led
Chennai : The DMK Wednesday finalised the seat sharing exercise with key ally Congress for the coming Lok Sabha elections, allotting it nine seats in Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry, a day after arch rival AIADMK cobbled up an alliance with the BJP and PMK.
Announcing the pact at the party headquarters 'Anna Arivalayam' here, DMK president M K Stalin said the constituencies to be contested by the Congress will be announced later on conclusion of seat sharing exercise with other allies.
DMK had already appointed committees to steer the alliance process, Stalin said flanked by All India Congress Committee general secretaries Mukul Wasnik, incharge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, K C Venugopal, state unit party chief K S Alagiri.
The work on seat sharing with other allies will begin from tomorrow, he told reporters.
There are a total of 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in the union territory of Puducherry, ruled by the Congress.
In the 2014 elections, the Congress went alone but failed to win none so as the DMK which had led an alliance with some smaller parties.
The AIADMK won 37 seats while the BJP and PMK one each in Tamil Nadu with the lone Puducherry seat going to AINRC.
Describing the alliance between Congress and DMK as a long term relationship since the days of late Dravidian patriarch M Karunanidhi, Venugopal said "we are very happy," about the seat sharing agreement.
"The country very much needs this alliance, the entire country is disappointed with the Narendra Modi government," he said.
Asked about the other parties with which the alliance will be firmed up, Stalin said DMK has "decided to hold talks with "friendly outfits" which have been working together with it "on people's issues" for the past about two years.
He was obviously referring to parties, including Vaiko-led MDMK, CPI and CPI(M).
Also, the IUML, a long-time ally of the DMK, and VCK, which fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with it, are all set to be part of the alliance being put in place by the Dravidian outfit.
Asked if DMDK led by actor-turned politician Vijaykant would be a part of the alliance, he said if that happened it will be informed to the media.
DMDK is in talks with the AIADMK for an alliance but a deal has been delayed with reports suggesting some differences over the number seats to be alloted to it.
The AIADMK Tuesday sealed the electoral pacts with the BJP and PMK allotting them seven and five Lok Sabha seats respectively, while indicating more parties might join the front.
After conclusion of seat sharing with allies, the DMK will contest in rest of the constituencies, Stalin said.
"We did not hold talks secretly in a hotel, but it was conducted in a transparent manner at our party headquarters here," he said taking a dig at AIADMK which concluded talks with allies in a star hotel here
To a question on the AIADMK-led alliance describing itself as "people's welfare coalition," he alleged that "people call it as an alliance for money."
The DMK-Congress pact came after conclusion of final round of talks Wednesday preceded by parleys between the top leadership of the two parties.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi held talks with Congress president Rahul Gandhi days ago in Delhi on seat sharing.
"It was decided during talks between the leadership of both the parties to allot nine seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Pudhcherry to Congress," Stalin told reporters here.
Asked if the alliance will cover the bypolls expected to the 21 assembly seats as well, he said "let the byelections be announced in the first place."
At the talks Wednesday, the Congress side was represented by Wasnik, Venugopal and legislature party leader K R Ramasamy. Besides Stalin, DMK treasurer Duraimurugan and principal secretary T R Baalu were also present.
After the DMK quit the UPA in 2013, the Congress had to face the 2014 Lok Sabha polls alone in Tamil Nadu. DMK, which had faced the polls in alliance with smaller outfits, drew a blank despite contesting 35 seats.
Congress had lost deposits in 38 constituencies.
In 2009, the Congress had won eight seats in alliance with DMK after contesting 16 seats.
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Congress Corporator's daughter stabbed to death inside college campus in Hubballi
Hubballi (Karnataka), Apr 18: The daughter of a Congress Corporator was stabbed to death by her acquaintance inside BVB college campus here on Thursday after she allegedly rejected his proposal, police said.
The deceased Neha (23), the daughter of Niranjan Hiremath, was a first-year MCA student, they said.
The accused 23-year-old Fayaz, an MCA dropout, has been arrested in connection with the incident, police said, adding that both of them were batchmates during their BCA course.
The entire incident was caught on CCTV camera.
According to the police, Fayaz went inside the college campus with a knife and stabbed Neha five-six times. During the attack, he too sustained injuries and was shifted to the hospital along with the victim. At the hospital, Neha was declared brought dead.
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"During interrogation, he (Fayaz) claimed that the two of them had been in a relationship and that she had suddenly started avoiding him. It needs to be corroborated and verified, but he was arrested immediately," a senior police officer said.
A case of murder has been registered, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
Narrating about the incident, Neha's father Hiremath said that his daughter had classes from 8 am. At around 4.30 pm, when she stepped out after completing her classes, this person approached towards her and stabbed her nearly six times inside the college campus and she died on the spot.
"He (the accused) was an old student and he had proposed my daughter but she rejected his proposal. She did not like him and she usually stayed away from all this...She refused him saying they both belonged to different caste and that she did not wish to have any relationship with him. Out of anger, he stabbed my daughter," he told PTI videos.
Demanding justice for her daughter, he said that the accused should he hanged to death only then will his daughter's soul rest in peace.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the incident and offered condolences to the family of the deceased.
"An accused has already been arrested in connection with the incident and I have instructed the Director General of Police to conduct a strict investigation and take action to ensure maximum punishment for the accused," he said in a post on 'X'.
He also appealed to people to not take law into their hands.
"In connection with the incident, no one should get agitated and take law into their hands or attempt to disturb peace of the society. It is our duty to get justice for the death of the young woman, in this regard the police department will work hard," he added.
