New Delhi, March 8 (PTI): The DMK today blinked and conceded 63 seats to the Congress under a seat-sharing deal for the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, ending three days of political drama.

The leadership of the DMK and the Congress finally decided on the number of seats and the Congress will contest 63 seats, Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside the residence of Sonia Gandhi.

The demand of 63 seats by the Congress marks an increase of 15 seats over the number it got in the 2006 Assembly elections and a number that was frowned upon by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi when he announced the pullout of the party from the UPA government on Saturday.

The deal was announced after DMK minister Dayanidhi Maran held two rounds of talks with senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament House during which Azad and Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel were also present.

From the meeting, a beaming Maran, accompanied by another Union minister M.K. Alagiri, and Congress leaders drove to Gandhi’s residence to thank her for the deal on behalf of the DMK’s leadership.

In an act of brinkmanship, the DMK announced the pullout of its six ministers from the Union council of ministers and offered issued-based support, accusing the Congress of making attempts to push it out of the coalition.

On Friday night, Karunanidhi had accused the Congress of being unreasonable by escalating the demand for seats from 50 to 53 to 57 and then to 60. After agreeing to settle for 60, the party later raised the demand to 63, he had complained.

But it was not clear whether there has been any agreement between the two parties in conceding the Congress demand for its choice of constituencies and power sharing after the elections.

The Congress would get the extra three seats from the quota of other allies like the Muslim League and the PMK. The third additional seat is expected to be set aside for the Congress by the VCK, another coalition partner.

“Today is a happy day after DMK-Congress seat sharing deal. The Congress should be grateful to the PMK and the IUML,” Karunanidhi said in Chennai soon after the deal was announced in Delhi.

Azad said that the Congress and the DMK have “unanimously” come to the conclusion of contesting 63 seats.

“This alliance will work together and campaign together and ensure that the alliance will be back in power like after the last elections,” he said, claiming that it is a ”winning alliance”.

“We have other partners also -- the PMK, VCK, Kongu party and the All India Muslim League. All these parties will work together,” Azad, who was accompanied by Maran and Alagiri, said.

Asked what is the formula of the deal with the Congress, Alagiri said: “It is a winning formula. It is the expectation of the cadres that there should be an amicable settlement,” he said, asked whether the credit for clinching the deal should go to him and Maran.

“The DMK coalition has given 63 seats to Congress. Sonia Gandhi has okayed it...,” he said.

Asked whether DMK cadres will work for Congress during the polls in view of the recent bitterness between the two parties on the issue of alliance, Alagiri said: “Definitely. The entire cadres will work for the coalition and we will come back to power.”