Talks between Jaya, Left and MDMK inconclusive

The seat-sharing talks between the AIADMK and the two Left parties remain inconclusive, with the Left leadership feeling that the offer made by AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa is far below their expectations. The AIADMK has come forward to offer 11 seats to the CPI(M) and nine to the CPI, according to sources in the Left parties. The CPI (M) even cancelled its State committee meeting slated for Wednesday because no agreement was reached over seat-sharing. Instead, the meeting will be held on March 12. “Even today the AIADMK called us to find out our opinion. We clearly told them that there was no point in calling us when there is no improvement on the offer,” said a senior CPI (M) leader who is involved in the talks. However, the Left parties say there is no change in their decision to stick to the AIADMK-led alliance. AIADMK leaders had been holding talks with the leaders of the Left parties at an undisclosed location for the past 10 days. “The figure does not even match the numbers we got when we were part of the DMK alliance in the 2006 elections. We were given a Rajya Saba seat each, besides Assembly seats. We have helped build a political movement and the AIADMK should take into consideration our strength and influence,” a CPI leader said.