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INDIA bloc finalises Tamil Nadu seat allocation
All seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) finalised its seat-sharing pact in Tamil Nadu on Monday, setting the stage for a fierce three-cornered fight in the southern state with Dravidian rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will fight on 21 out of the state’s 39 seats, two lower than what it contested in 2019. Its main ally, the Congress, will fight on nine seats in Tamil Nadu (contested nine seats in 2019 as well) and the lone Lok Sabha seat in Puducherry. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a prominent Dalit party in the state, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India will contest two seats each.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will contest one seat each. The Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) will contest under the rising sun symbol in Namakkal.
All seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
The DMK retained all three Lok Sabha seats in the capital city – Chennai North, Chennai South and Chennai Central – which is the party’s bastion, according to an official release.
The DMK is also contesting Sriperumbudur, Arakkonam, Kancheepuram (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi, Salem, Pollachi, Nilgiris (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Coimbatore, Theni, Arani, Perambalur, Erode, Thanjavur, Tenkasi (reserved for Scheduled Castes) and Thoothukudi.
The Congress will fight from Tiruvallur (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Krishnagiri, Karur, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli. It will face off against the BJP in Puducherry.
The VCK will contest the reserved seats of Chidambaram and Villupuram. The CPI(M) will fight in Madurai and Dindigul, and the CPI will fight in Tiruppur and Nagapattinam (reserved for Scheduled Castes).
The MDMK will contest in Tiruchirapalli and the IUML in Ramanathapuram.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK-led alliance swept the state, winning 38 out of the 39 seats.
The AIADMK-BJP alliance won just one seat; i.e., Theni. The alliance broke in September last year.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) will be campaigning for the DMK-led alliance and has been promised a Rajya Sabha seat.
“The DMK alliance has completed the seat allocation. We have a head start. We’ll win all 40 seats (including Puducherry),” state Congress Committee chief K Selvaperunthagai said.
The AIADMK, led by former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, has not announced any allies yet.
It’s his first election since he took over the party reins after expelling rival O Panneerselvam and his supporters in July 2022.
Palaniswami has also stuck to his decision not to have any truck with the BJP after they came together for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Expelled AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) has joined the BJP’s alliance. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents in the state such as the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) have been in talks with the AIADMK as well as the BJP, but with no announcements yet.
The BJP has been trying hard to gain a foothold in the southern state where no national party has been able to make a mark since 1967.
