The Congress and the DMK on Wednesday finalised a seat-sharing deal for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, a day after former Union minister P. Chidambaram met chief minister M.K. Stalin to resolve a deadlock.
The Congress will contest 28 out of the state’s 234 constituencies, three more than last time.
The DMK has also allotted one Rajya Sabha seat each to the Congress and the DMDK for the March 16 biennial election.
Soon after the announcement, Opposition AIADMK said it was giving the Rajya Sabha seat held by its ally Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) to the Pattali Makkal Katchi. The AIADMK named its incumbent MP M. Thambidurai as its candidate.
The DMK and its allies have the strength to elect four Rajya Sabha members. Currently, all four are from the party. The DMK has named incumbent Tiruchi Siva and J. Constantine Ravindran as its candidates.
After talks, Congress’s Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodandkar told reporters: “We are fighting these elections together very strongly.”
In the run-up to the polls, Congress MP Manickam Tagore and Professionals’ Congress head Praveen Chakravarty had attacked the DMK on multiple occasions. Chakravarty even met actor-politician Vijay, seen as a third pole in state politics. The DMK — which has taken pains to project itself as a stable INDIA bloc partner — did not take kindly to this, prompting even Congress leaders to publicly disagree with Chakravarty on a tweet of his targeting the government’s financial condition.
“We accept the decision of our Congress President Thiru Kharge ji. As loyal Congress workers, we stand united,” Tagore posted on X.
The DMK may face an uphill task now accommodating its new ally DMDK and new entrant and former chief minister O. Panneerselvam. Besides the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi has also demanded more seats within the DMK bloc.