DMK leader MK Stalin's strategy will make the  Congress feel shortchanged in the event the M Karunanidhi-led party wins the Tamil Nadu elections.

Our sources tell us that Stalin, who is believed to have engineered the alliance with the Congress for the 2016 polls, has a pre-condition in the agreement which clearly says that the DMK will not accommodate the Congress in the Tamil Nadu ministry. This is obviously a major setback to Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had met Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai on Monday for seat sharing talks .


The agreement will be handed over to the Governor of Tamil Nadu if the DMK is to stake a claim even if it were a minority government. In other words Congress MLAs will be a 'paid partner", meaning which they will get a monthly salary, but no portfolios.


Yesterday, after meeting the DMK chief Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai, Azad said, "Congress will be contesting on 41 seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

"I am sure that under the leadership of Karunanidhi ji, we'll be able to form the government in Tamil Nadu."

After joining hands for 2004 Lok Sabha polls, DMK had walked out of the alliance with Congress-led UPA in 2013 over the vexed Sri Lankan Tamils issue. The DMK had then accused the then UPA government in Centre of not handling the Sri Lankan Tamils issue properly