NEW DELHI: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s keenness to send his son, Karti Chidambaram, to Parliament from Sivaganga, his erstwhile Lok Sabha constituency, which he nurtured for almost 30 years, may force the Congress to settle for six seats from which it can contest, in Tamil Nadu, in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats.
Sources said that P. Chidambaram’s keenness to send his son to Parliament and save him from the graft cases going on against him, has made him persuade the Congress’ central leadership to go for an alliance with the DMK in the state and settle for a meagre six seats to contest from in the general elections.
Chidambaram and his family, including his son Karti, are facing a number of graft cases that are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Currently, Karti is out on bail.
The DMK had dumped the Congress in the 2014 Lok Saba elections and the two parties had contested separately. The Congress had lost all the 39 seats that it had contested in 2014. It managed to get over one lakh votes from only two seats. The AIADMK had won 37 Lok Sabha seats, while the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi managed to win one seat each.
In 2014, P. Chidambaram tried but failed to help launch Karti’s parliamentary career. Karti contested from Sivaganga, supposedly his father’s bastion, but came a distant fourth, behind the AIADMK, DMK and BJP. He even lost his deposit. Sivaganga had sent P. Chidambaram to the Lok Sabha seven times since 1984.
A Congress source told The Sunday Guardian: “After the defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Chidambaram realised that without help from DMK president M.K. Stalin, his party, on its own could not ensure Karti’s entry into Parliament. This made Chidambaram persuade the Congress to have an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu for the 2019 general elections.”
“Congress was putting pressure on the DMK to give it 15 of the 39 seats, and was even grouping up with like-minded entities to intensify its demand. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had even met Kamal Haasan and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan, but Chidambaram was not keen on any bargaining of seats,” the same source said.
Sources have confirmed that Rahul Gandhi and Stalin have stamped on the deal pushed through by P. Chidambaram.
Recently, the DMK appointed its senior leaders as “in-charges” for all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry. This step was being read as a sign of war-readiness against the Congress.
“The DMK was prepared to contest all the seats on its own if the seat sharing talks failed. But Chidambaram was so keen to send his son to Parliament, that he worked towards finalising Congress’ alliance with the DMK, even if it meant settling for a measly six seats,” said the source.
Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Stalin has spoken about any alliance, but the presence of Sonia Gandhi during the unveiling of M. Karunanidhi’s statue in Tamil Nadu in November 2018 conveyed the relevant political message.
Also, after failing to forge an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress was under pressure to finalise an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, according to sources.