CHENNAI: After negotiating with AIADMK and DMK for a poll alliance, PMK seems to have decided to join the AIADMK-BJP front, multiple sources told TOI on Monday.Union minister Piyush Goyal , who has been negotiating with AIADMK and PMK, will arrive in Chennai on Tuesday."While an agreement with PMK was to be signed on Monday evening, prolonged discussions resulted in postponing it to Tuesday and negotiations with DMDK were on till Monday night," a source privy to the development said.After successfully announcing the alliance in Maharashtra, BJP president Amit Shah was keen on visiting Chennai on Tuesday, but has been requested to await finality, just to avoid any embarrassment due to last minute hiccups. “We will most likely announce the partnership on Tuesday, but not the number of seats, which will take a couple of more days to reveal,” the source said.Differences between PMK founder S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramadoss over whom to support delayed their party’s deal with the AIADMK-BJP, sources said. After some hard bargaining, the AIADMK-BJP camp has all but formalized an alliance with the PMK, but it was touch and go, said people privy to the hectic political confabulations.Anbumani was keen on tying up with the DMK-led front. Insiders said he is still sore with the BJP for denying him a ministerial berth after he won the Dharmapuri seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Finally, however, the senior Ramadoss’s opinion prevailed.By Monday evening, though, the DMK had all but given up on the PMK and proceeded to finalise seat-sharing talks with allies Congress, the Left parties and the VCK.During the day, PMK president G K Mani was closeted with chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to work out the alliance modalities. Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and the party’s two deputy coordinators K P Munusamy and R Vaithilingam were also present, the source confirmed.The AIADMK had kept its talks with the PMK under wraps as the latter was believed to have been holding talks with the DMK as well.Overcoming last-minute hiccups, the AIADMK and the BJP firmed up their alliance, which now includes the PMK besides the DMDK, TMC, the PT and a few smaller parties.The alliance is likely to be formally sealed on Tuesday, when Union minister and BJP’s Tamil Nadu in charge for parliamentary elections Piyush Goyal arrives in Chennai.“It has been a complicated exercise to bring everyone around. The whole thing has been coordinated by a leading industrialist. Due to altering numbers for parties, the AIADMK-BJP quota is likely to become either 23:17 or 24:16 (for the 40 seats in TN and Puducherry),” said a source.(With inputs from J Shanmughasundaram)

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