CHENNAI: The INDIA bloc led by the DMK in Tamil Nadu got a head start for the Lok Sabha polls as the ruling party completed the seat-sharing talks with all its partners on Saturday. The Dravidian major, after much wrangling, inked agreements with Congress and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiyam.
The party allotted 10 Lok Sabha seats, including the lone Puducherry seat, to the grand old party, a repeat of the 2019 numbers. The MNM would get one Rajya Sabha seat.
A Congress delegation led by AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, K C Venugopal, Tamil Nadu in-charge Ajoy Kumar, and TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai held talks with Chief Minister M K Stalin at the DMK headquarters. Stalin and Selvaperunthagai later inked the pact.
Venugopal said the DMK-led combine would win all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. “We will fight together and win together,” he said.
As per the pact, the Congress was given nine Lok Sabha seats in TN and the lone Puducherry seat. The final seat matrix in the DMK alliance is as follows: Congress-10, CPM 2, CPI 2, VCK 2, MDMK 1, IUML 1, KMDK 1, and DMK 21.
The announcement on constituency details is expected in the next few days.
The DMK wrapped up its seat-sharing talks a day before its scheduled interview with candidates for the polls.
Kamal Haasan’s MNM also officially became part of the INDIA bloc after its poll pact with the DMK. MNM will not take part in the general elections but will be get a Rajya Sabha berth in 2025. For its part, the MNM committed itself to campaigning in support of the alliance.
While the DMK has maintained the 2019 seat matrix, alliance partners have been informed that only constituencies will be adjusted based on preferences and ground reports of the respective parties.