CHENNAI: A day after holding the first round of seat-sharing talks with the DMK, the All India Congress Committee Tamil Nadu in charge Girish Chodankar on Saturday said the 25 Assembly seats offered by the ruling party for the 2026 Assembly elections were “not acceptable”, even as it cautioned against underestimating actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
He said the party was seeking a higher allocation from the DMK and had conveyed its expectations to the alliance partner.
“They offered us 25 seats, but that is not acceptable to us. We have conveyed our expectations to them,” he said, indicating that the Congress submitted its wish list during the discussions.
Speaking to a news agency in Delhi, Chodankar said the designated committees of the Congress and the DMK had held an hour-long meeting as part of preparations for the 2026 Assembly election. “Our committee and the DMK committee had an hour-long discussion yesterday (Saturday). We only hope they accept our wish list,” he said.
Chodankar said the new party (TVK) should not be taken lightly. “They are getting traction among youngsters. They also recognise the strength of the Congress and our leader Rahul Gandhi in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
However, Chodankar ruled out any parallel talks with TVK.
“Right now, talks are going on with the DMK,” he said, ruling out any immediate possibility of an alliance with the fledgling outfit.
Chodankar also underlined the Congress’ broader objective in the negotiations. The party’s priority, he said, was to secure adequate representation in the Assembly, to strengthen its position and ensure the numbers required to elect its member to the Rajya Sabha.
Further rounds of discussions between the alliance partners are expected in the coming days.