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Lok Sabha polls: DMK finalises seat-sharing pact with Congress, allots 9 seats in Tamil Nadu
DMK president and chief minister MK Stalin and TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai finalised the deal, in the presence of AICC leaders KC Venugopal and Ajoy Kumar.
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In a repeat of their seat-sharing formula of 2019, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu allotted 9 seats in the state and one in neighbouring Puducherry to the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
DMK president and chief minister MK Stalin and TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai finalised the deal, in the presence of AICC leaders KC Venugopal and Ajoy Kumar.
“Congress will contest elections on 9 seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry. On the remaining seats, we will support the candidates of DMK and alliance parties. We will win all 40 seats of Tamil Nadu,” Venugopal told media persons.
Venugopal also exuded confidence that the Congress and DMK alliance will win all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
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“We are confident that INDIA Alliance will win all 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. They (NDA) can make the perception that they are winning but INDIA Alliance will be ruling the country after this election,” the Congress leader was quoted as saying by PTI.
He also said that the 'bonding' between the Congress and the DMK "is intact."
The Congress is the DMK’s principal ally in the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, the Congress contested nine out of a total of 39 parliamentary seats, besides the lone seat in Puducherry. It won eight seats in the polls in Tamil Nadu. The DMK contested 20 seats and won all of them that year.
In the 2021 assembly elections, the DMK contested 188 out of 234 seats and won 133. The Congress was given 25 seats; it won 18 seats.
