Pondicherry: The office of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in Pondicherry has been wearing a near forlorn look for some days now, as there was lack of activity with the party facing deadlock in finalising seats among the constituents of the Democratic Progressive Alliance (Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Left parties).

All its important functionaries, including the president of the committee P. Shanmugham, AICC General Secretary V. Narayanasamy MP and former Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam were also away in New Delhi for almost a week to finalise the list of seats each of the constituents of the alliance should get.

First round over

When contacted, one of the members of the Congress delegation from Pondicherry in New Delhi told The Hindu that first round of talks with the AICC leader Sonia Gandhi had been completed and there was a positive outcome to the current exercise on the sharing of seats.

On the DMK side the Central Minister Dayanidhi Maran had been holding talks with Sonia Gandhi to decide on sharing of seats between the two major partners in the alliance, it is reported.

Congress is now holding the reins of power here.

It has taken the stand that it is a number one party in the alliance.

Asked what was the representation the team had made to the AICC leader (in so far as number of seats the Congress should get exclusively) and what minimum number of seats it aspired for allocation, the member said that the delegation had made a strong case to the party leader and nothing could be said right now.

No sub-quota

Whatever number of seats the Congress would get, there would be no room for it to have a sub quota in its share for allocation to some of the constituents in the alliance.

It was claimed that a clear picture of seats for each of the constituents would be available on Tuesday.

The next stage of identification of the constituencies for the Congress would also be done in consultation with the high command.

The AICC sponsored seven-member Committee for Pondicherry under the chairmanship of Mr. Shanmugham to select the candidates in the last stage and release the Congress nominees' list.

Process sluggish

Anyhow the sluggish manner in which the Congress and its allies have been going about the task of finalising the seats has dampened the spirit and enthusiasm of the volunteers here.

When the front comprising AIADMK, Puduchery Munnetra Congress, MDMK and Dalit Panthers of India have gone several steps forward and have also started extensive poll campaign, the Congress and its partners are lagging far behind.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail