MK Stalin and Rahul Gandhi (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Congress has sought 45 seats from the DMK for the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections, but the MK Stalin-led party is hesitant to allocate more than 25, leading to a deadlock, according to sources.The ruling DMK and the Congress kicked off their long-awaited seat-sharing talks on Sunday, with Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal meeting Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin at his official Chennai residence.A follow-up meeting on Monday saw Congress Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar and state unit chief K Selvaperunthagai meet DMK parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi, Stalin’s sister, in Delhi.During the meeting, the two Congress leaders reportedly conveyed that they want to contest 45 of the 234 assembly seats.While the DMK has been firm on allocating 25 seats—the same as in the 2021 elections—it has yet to formally respond to its ally’s demand for 45 seats.The Congress’ demand is reportedly based on a review of the 2021 election results, when it won 18 of the 25 constituencies it contested, achieving a strike rate of 72%.Party insiders say Congress believes it could win at least 20 of the seats it lost if allotted them this time, pointing to a stronger local presence and better consolidation in direct contests.By contrast, the DMK contested 173 constituencies in 2021, winning 133 and comfortably crossing the majority mark on its own.The back-to-back meetings come amid calls from a section of Tamil Nadu Congress leaders for a share in power, which Stalin has ruled out, saying such an arrangement would not suit the state.The DMK heads the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in Tamil Nadu, which includes the Congress, the DMDK, Left parties, and the VCK.The Tamil Nadu assembly elections are expected in April.(With PTI inputs)