Chennai/New Delhi:
The DMK-Congress alliance came back from breakpoint and finally made a breakthrough.
A seat-sharing arrangement for the Tamil Nadu polls was announced in Chennai late on Monday evening.
The breakthrough came after senior DMK leaders, and Union Ministers, Dayanidhi Maran and MK Alagiri met Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi.
That meeting capped a day of parleys. The political equivalent of a couples counselling session was held in Delhi this afternoon with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee meeting with Dayanidhi Maran. Mr Mukherjee also phoned DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai to petition for a 24-hour reprieve.
The DMK has six union ministers and 18 MPs, allowing it to be an influential member of the coalition government at the Centre.
What had turned the allies into foes was the negotiation over what sort of role the Congress will play - first in the Tamil Nadu elections, and then in the state government if the DMK comes to power.
Currently, the DMK government is supported "from outside" by the Congress - the latter is not part of the government. Elections in Tamil Nadu are scheduled for April 13. The Congress wanted 63 seats, as opposed to the 60 that the DMK was prepared to part with. Also, the Congress has shortlisted some constituencies which have to be included in its share. That was not acceptable to the DMK.
The split was first announced by the DMK on Saturday.
In the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the half-way mark is 272. The Congress has 207 seats. Allies like the DMK push the UPA's tally to 274 - just two more than that critical half-way mark.
Sans the DMK's 18 seats, the government will be in minority.