The AIADMK will finalise seat-sharing with BJP and other NDA constituents for the April 23 Assembly polls and formally make the announcement on constituencies allocated to them in four days, the party's general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Friday. Denying any hitch in the negotiations, Palaniswami, who had called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence on Thursday night, said the talks were smooth and would be amicably resolved. The AIADMK leads the multi-party National Democratic Alliance, whose constituents include the BJP, AMMK and PMK. "You will know everything in four days. We will finalise and announce the constituencies that have been allotted. Here its (talks) not like in the DMK alliance. They will be smooth, perfect here... our objective is to allot those seats to our allies where they have bright prospects for winning," the former Chief Minister told reporters in the national capital before leaving for Chennai.
He said BJP Tamil Nadu in-charge Piyush Goyal would visit the state on Saturday to take forward the negotiations. His meeting with Shah on Thursday night was cordial and they discussed the political scenario in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK chief said. Palaniswami dismissed as media speculation, alliance talks with the Vijay-led TVK and said, "as AIADMK general secretary I have been insisting that we have not held talks with TVK. Why do you keep raising the issue." On whether any other party would join the NDA, Palaniswami said there was no such likelihood, as the alliance has been sealed. On AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP C Ve Shanmugam’s controversial remark on actress Nayanthara while criticising one of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's schemes recently, Palaniswami replied, "he (Shanmugam) has apologised after realising his mistake. So, further discussion on this will be inappropriate." To a question, Palaniswami replied that his party's election manifesto will be released in a week's time. He has already made some poll promises, including a one-time assistance of Rs 10,000 to people to overcome the "economic hardship" caused by DMK regime. Asked about the NDA's prospects at the hustings necessitating a quadrangular contest, especially with the presence of actor Vijay's TVK and former film director Seeman's NTK, he replied that the poll battle was only between the AIADMK-led NDA which wanted to usher in development in Tamil Nadu and the "corrupt" DMK. "The DMK government's only achievement is corruption and deterioration of law and order in its regime. It has not brought any new schemes for the state," the TN Leader of Opposition claimed. Meanwhile, AIADMK Ally and AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran slammed Chief Minister M K Stalin for his remark earlier in the day ridiculing Palaniswami's Delhi visit to meet Shah, seeking to know whether the AIADMK chief had gone to ensure funds flow to Tamil Nadu. "Does not the chief minister know that the Centre cannot allocate funds to the state following the announcement of assembly election. People are aware that no matter how much funds are devolved to Tamil Nadu, the amount is siphoned off by the present ruling regime and hence people are waiting for a regime change," Dhinakaran told reporters at the Chennai airport before leaving for Delhi. The April 23 election was a contest between the NDA and the DMK alliance. While Palaniswami headed the NDA in the state, the BJP continued to lead the alliance at the national level. Stalin was getting scared whenever the NDA leaders met the BJP leaders in Delhi, Dhinakaran claimed. To a question he replied that he got an invitation to meet Shah four days ago and his meeting with the Home Minister on Friday was to discuss about the state political scenario.