DMK, allies come to agreement on numbers, identifying seats to be next task

CHENNAI: The DMK-led INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu on Saturday successfully concluded the long-dragged first phase of seat-sharing talks by finalising the numbers for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Chief Minister MK Stalin and TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai formally inked the seat-sharing agreement in the presence of AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, who flew from the national capital and personally convinced Stalin at the DMK headquarters.

The DMK has allotted 10 seats, including Puducherry to the Congress, which contested the same number of seats in 2019 LS polls. Announcing the pact, Selvaperunthagai said the INDIA bloc would win by a big margin in all 40 seats and the Congress cadres would work for the victory of DMK candidates.

Describing it as a “very happiest moment”, KC Venugopal said, “Under the leadership of CM Stalin, Tamil Nadu is fighting the divisive forces of the country and anti-federal attitude to the government. We are aware of how the Union government is attacking the opposition states.”

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Alleging that PM Modi and his government were trying to attack the pride of Tamil Nadu, Venugopal said, “It is important to fight the divisive, anti-people and anti-poor government ruling the country.”

Though Congress was first among the allies the DMK opened talks with, the grand old party was the last to clinch the deal, and that too a day before the DMK interviews its MP applicants for selecting the party candidates.

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As per the pacts sealed between the INDIA partners, the alliance leader DMK, which has 23 sitting Lok Sabha MPs (allies who contested in its symbol included) will contest from only 21 seats this time, followed by Congress from 10, including Puducherry Union Territory. The Left parties, CPM and CPI, and VCK will contest two seats each, while MDMK, IUML and KMDK have been allotted one each. Of these, KMDK will contest on the DMK symbol, Rising Sun. New entrant to the alliance, actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s MNM had to be content with an RS nomination in 2025, a commitment for which was formalised between the two parties early Saturday.

Though this is significant progress, especially considering how talks were floundering till DMK president and CM Stalin personally stepped in to untangle the knots, there still is the not-so-easy part of identifying the seats. Many seats have multiple claimants, especially because DMK leaders at the district level have urged the party leadership to take over some of the seats from which Congress had won last time.