Cong hints ties with DMK to remain in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi, Mar 5: Ahead of the crucial meeting of the DMK top brass in Chennai, Congress today (Saturday, Mar 5) signalled that its seven-year-old alliance with the Dravidian party in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, would be saved.

"I can assure you, in our political relationship, we have sometimes some problems. We have the capacity to create problems and at the same time, solve them and it will be solved," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

The statement came a day after it appeared that the alliance was breaking on the issue of seat-sharing for the Assembly polls with DMK chief M Karunanidhi saying the party's high-level committee would take a "proper decision" on the issue.

Senior DMK leaders will meet in Chennai this evening to chart out the next course of action, according to party MP T R Baalu.

In a statement in Chennai last night, Karunanidhi had asked whether it was proper for Congress, which had agreed for 60 seats earlier, to now demand 63 seats over telephone.

The Congress stand that it would decide on seats to be contested was highly improper, he had said.

The DMK and the Congress have held three rounds of discussions on seat-sharing for the April 13 Assembly polls, but no headway could be made due to differences between them.

PTI