DMK and Congress may have reaffirmed their alliance, but discussions held ahead of finalising seat-sharing reportedly saw a sharp exchange over election funding, according to Congress sources.
The sources said that in previous elections, the DMK typically bore a major share of campaign expenses for Congress candidates in Tamil Nadu. With campaign costs rising from lakhs to crores over recent polls, Congress leaders were said to expect similar support in the upcoming Assembly election as well.
However, during talks with Congress’ election team, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reportedly indicated that the DMK would not be able to spend as heavily as in the last election and could contribute only to a limited extent. He is said to have urged Congress to select candidates with the financial capacity to meet expenses.
Congress election in-charge Girish Shodankar was reportedly taken aback and argued that differences during seat-sharing talks should not translate into reduced funding. He is said to have maintained that most sitting Congress MLAs would be renominated, but could cover only about 20% of costs, with the rest expected from the DMK.
Stalin, the sources added, stressed that the priority should be to field influential and winnable candidates across constituencies, warning that nominating weak candidates could hand strength to the opposition. Shodankar reportedly said he would convey the matter to the party high command.
