Chennai: Ending days of intense negotiations and uncertainty, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress on Wednesday formally signed their seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
As per the pact, the Congress will contest 28 Assembly constituencies, three more than the 25 seats it contested in the 2021 Assembly elections as part of the alliance.
In addition, the Congress has also been allotted one Rajya Sabha seat as part of the understanding between the two parties.
The agreement was signed at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai, by DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai.
The Rajya Sabha berth offered to the Congress is seen as a key component of the broader political arrangement aimed at strengthening the alliance ahead of the crucial Assembly elections.
The deal was finalised after several rounds of negotiations between leaders of both parties, which had briefly reached a deadlock over the number of seats and the Congress’s demand for a greater role within the alliance.
At one stage, the talks appeared to be heading towards a breakdown as the Congress pushed for a higher seat allocation.
The impasse was eventually resolved after senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram stepped in as an emissary of the party’s high command and held discussions with Chief Minister Stalin on March 3.
Following these talks, both sides moved towards a compromise, leading to the final agreement. Before the signing ceremony, a Congress delegation led by Girish Chodankar, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Tamil Nadu and head of the party’s seat-sharing committee, met the Chief Minister.
The delegation included TNCC president Selvaperunthagai, Congress Legislature Party leader K. Rajesh Kumar, and other senior leaders.
Speaking to reporters after the signing of the pact, Selvaperunthagai said the party was satisfied with the agreement and confident that the alliance would perform strongly in the upcoming elections.
He also said the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat allotted to the Congress would be announced later by the party high command in consultation with the State leadership.
Chodankar said that formal discussions between the DMK and the Congress on seat sharing for the Puducherry Assembly elections would begin on March 5.
The agreement reinforces the over two-decade-long alliance between the DMK and the Congress, which began in 2004.
Despite occasional differences, including a brief split ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the partnership has remained a significant political force in Tamil Nadu and continues to play a key role in shaping the State’s electoral landscape.
(IANS)
