CPI-M unlikely to get Madurai Lok Sabha seat as DMK local leadership raises objections

Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) With political parties in Tamil Nadu busy in seat sharing talks, the DMK leadership is keen for the party to contest the Madurai Lok Sabha seat, hitherto held by the CPI-M.

Sources in the DMK told IANS that the party’s local leadership and cadres have expressed unhappiness over the CPI-M again contesting from a prestigious seat like Madurai even though the Left party does not have any clout in the area.

The DMK is holding seat sharing talks with the CPI and the CPI-M on February 3 and 4 respectively and the issue of a CPI-M candidate contesting from Madurai will be one of the major ones to be discussed then.

However, sources in the CPI-M told IANS that it will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha seat from Madurai and the party may replace its present MP, Su Venkatesan with a new face, if that was irking the DMK cadres and leaders.

Meanwhile, another ally of the DMK, the MDMK had requested it to allocate six Lok Sabha seats for it.

Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Vaiko, had in a statement on Tuesday expressed the desire for the MDMK to contest six seats in the elections.

Vaiko has requested for Trichy, Cuddalore, Erode, Virudhunagar, Kancheepuram and Mayiladuthurai seats.

However, the DMK is not likely to relent and MDMK will have to be contented with the one seat it contested in the 2019 elections.