Cong. 'open' to sharing power with PMK

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 1. The Pondicherry unit of the Congress appears to be relenting on the question of sharing power with the pro-LTTE PMK in the Union Territory.

``We have an open mind on alliance and power-sharing. But the Congress high command will take a final decision,'' the Pondicherry Congress president, Mr. V. Narayanasamy, told The Hindu today.

The Pondicherry Congress leaders including the Chief Minister, Mr. P. Shanmugham, would meet the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, on April 3 to finalise the election strategy in the Union Territory, which goes to polls on May 10.

The Congress which tied up with the PMK-inclusive AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, had earlier decided to delink the alliance and lead a separate front in Pondicherry, as it was unwilling to share power with the PMK.

However, as the Pondicherry unit was insistent on ``uniform alliance strategy'' in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory, the Congress, in a major climb-down, began seat negotiations, overlooking the AIADMK's power-sharing pact with the PMK by which a PMK nominee would be the Chief Minister for the first two-and-a-half years, if the front won a majority in the Assembly elections. Apparently, the Congress now wants the AIADMK to allot at least 16 seats for the Congress and its allies, the TMC and the CPI, to forge a united secular front in the Union Territory.

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