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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Mob assault victim whose ears were cut with pliers, hands were broken dies in Bihar
Nalanda: A 50-year-old cloth vendor who was brutally assaulted by a mob and had his ears cut off and was branded with an iron rod in Nalanda district last week, died during treatment on Friday night, police said.
According to a report published by The Indian Express, the victim, Mohammad Athar Hussain, a resident of Gagan Diwan village, was undergoing treatment at Pawapuri VIMS hospital after being attacked on December 5 while selling clothes on his bicycle.
He allegedly suffered severe injuries, including fractures and burn wounds. Police said six people have been arrested and two minors detained in connection with the case.
Mohammad Shakib Alam reportedly said, Hussain, who also lived partly with his in-laws in Barui village, was returning home when his bicycle broke down near Bhattapar village under Roh police station, forcing him to look for a puncture shop.
“When he asked a group of people about a puncture repair shop nearby, they asked his name and profession and then assaulted him, cut his ears, beat him with a heated rod,” TIE quoted Shakib as saying.
According to the report, Hussain is quoted as saying, “They tied my hands and feet, locked me in a room, and began to beat me up. They beat me with bricks and rods, breaking my fingers and hand. They even cut my ears and finger ends with pliers,” he claimed, adding that the mob had “stripped him to check his private parts, branding his body with a heated iron rod that peeled his skin off”.
“Someone struck me with a rod, another climbed on my chest and throttled me, causing blood to gush from my mouth. My entire body was raw and peeling from the assault.”
In her complaint filed on December 6, Hussain’s wife Shabnam Parveen named 10 residents of Bhattapar village and said several others were involved. She alleged that her husband was falsely accused of theft, brutally beaten, and tortured. She also claimed that villagers threatened her family when they tried to intervene.
The FIR invokes Sections 190, 191(2) and 191(3) (unlawful assembly and rioting), 126(2), 115(2), 117 and 118 (grievous hurt and use of dangerous means), 109 and 74 (abetment and common intention), and 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, with murder charges added after Hussain succumbed to his injuries.
Police also confirmed that a counter-complaint was filed by one of the accused, alleging that Hussain had attempted a burglary. However, officials said both versions are being investigated.
“Gold bangles, mangalsutra, silver girdle, and brass utensils… were stolen from our house,” the complaint claims. “My brother Satyanarayan spotted the thief, and villagers caught him with some recovered items. Hussain struck Satyanarayan with a rod during capture, injuring him,” police said.
According to a police source, an emergency 112 call led Roh police to the village at around 2.30 am to rescue the severely injured Hussain. He and the suspects were then taken to the police station.
Hussain was first taken to PHC Roh, then referred to Nawada Sadar Hospital and finally Pawapuri VIMS, where he died. A post-mortem has been conducted.
Nawada Superintendent of Police Abhinav Dhiman allegedly said a special team has arrested eight people so far and efforts are on to trace the remaining accused.
