‘DMDK does not have upper hand in negotiations’

Once a sought after party during elections, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founded by actor Vijayakant may have to settle for fewer seats than the PMK in the AIADMK-led alliance this Assembly election. Though party treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant has been posturing that the DMDK is prepared to contest alone in all 234 seats, the ground reality is different — sources in the DMDK and AIADMK, who are in the know of seat-sharing discussions, suggest that while the DMDK will remain in the alliance, it may have “to settle for a respectable number of seats” but not expect to be treated on a par with the PMK as its best days are in the past. Even before the Lok Sabha election, the DMDK had insisted that it must be allotted the same number of seats as the PMK, but had settled for four seats as opposed to the latter’s seven. The party’s office-bearers reiterated the same sentiment recently during a consultative meeting.