DMK’s Kanimozhi asks Lok Sabha Speaker for seats away from Congress MPs

Chennai: DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi Friday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla requesting that party lawmakers be allotted separate seating–not alongside the Congress–in the lower house of Parliament due to the “end” of the parties’ alliance.

The letter follows Congress’s decision to extend support to actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) for a coalition government in Tamil Nadu. The move effectively ends the Congress’s ties with the DMK, and is expected to have a bearing on cohesion of the broader alliance of Opposition parties–called the INDIA bloc.

In the letter, Kanimozhi said: “In view of the changed political circumstances and as our alliance with the Indian National Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for our Members to continue occupying the present seating arrangement alongside them in the House.”

She requested that the Speaker make necessary arrangements to allot the DMK parliamentary party “separate seating, enabling them to effectively discharge their responsibilities in the August House”.

The two parties had been allied in the state and in Centre for more than two decades, with periodic breaks.

The Speaker’s office has not publicly responded to the request. Seating in the Lok Sabha is traditionally allocated by the Speaker based on party strength and existing alliances.

The public fallout of the Congress’s decision to back TVK has been sharp. DMK leaders have accused Congress of backstabbing and betrayal, and the party passed a resolution Thursday criticising its erstwhile ally.

Party spokespersons have argued that Congress won the five seats in Tamil Nadu assembly elections this April solely because of the DMK, and would have otherwise drawn a blank.

(Edited by Prerna Madan)

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