CHENNAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday signed a seat-sharing agreement with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), agreeing to contest five Assembly constituencies, while expressing dissatisfaction over the reduced allocation.
The agreement was finalised at Anna Arivalayam following multiple rounds of negotiations between DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin and CPM state secretary P Shanmugam.
Addressing reporters, Shanmugam said the party was not satisfied with the number of seats, pointing out that the CPM had contested six constituencies in the 2021 Assembly election. He said the party had expected to win more seats than in 2021, but added that remaining in the alliance was equally important. The CPM would continue in the alliance and work for its victory, he said.
Sasikala and Ramadoss cannot split NDA votes. It’s nothing but DMK’s wishful thinking. Their coming together is no way a setback for our allianceTTV Dhinakaran, AMMK chief
Shanmugam also noted that Stalin personally intervened twice during the discussions and explained the constraints in allocating additional seats.
He reiterated that the party would neither support the AIADMK-BJP alliance nor weaken the unity of the Secular Progressive Alliance. Though not fully satisfied, the CPM had accepted five seats, he said.
Congress is a 140-year-old party born out of protest movements. Standing with the people has always been our core principle. We will continue to stand for protecting TN’s rightsK Selvaperunthagai, TNCC chief
Earlier in the day, Shanmugam, along with CPM politburo member K Balakrishnan, met Stalin at his residence before finalising the agreement.
Meanwhile, the DMK has invited the DMDK and the VCK for seat-sharing talks on Tuesday.
We will launch the fight against evil force DMK and its partners, who have taken TN to difficult times due to their incompetent management, hurting Tamil culture– Piyush Goyal, BJP leader