CHENNAI: AS the first party to sign the alliance deal, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) settled for two seats – one less than it contested in 2021 elections – and signed the alliance agreement with the DMK on Saturday evening in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin. Similarly, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) also signed the alliance agreement for two seats, but the party would be contesting from the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol.
Smaller parties – including actor-politician Karunas’ Mukkulathor Pulippadai, and Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaignar Peravai – which held talks with the DMK on Saturday also expressed interest to contest from the DMK’s rising sun symbol.
Although the DMK and the Congress began their official seat-sharing talks after days of stalemate, sources privy to the talks told TNIE that the DMK has offered the same 25 seats it contested in 2021 assembly elections and one Rajya Sabha seat. However, the Congress has pitched for 42 to 45 seats.
“Rejecting the Congress’s proposal, the DMK committee asked for the number that Congress would settle for. Congress conveyed that they would accept 33 seats. However, the DMK told the Congress committee that there is scope to increase only about three to four seats, after consultation with Chief Minister MK Stalin,” sources privy to the developments told TNIE.
Speaking to the reporters after the seat-sharing talks, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai said that the talks between the two parties were cordial and they would continue the talks in the coming days.
“We have placed our demands before the committee and the talks were cordial. The seat-sharing talks will be sealed in a few days,” Selvaperunthagai said.
On the same day, the DMK also held talks with Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi, SDPI, Mukkulathor Pulippadai, Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi, and Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaignar Peravai.
In total, as many as five political parties — including MMK, SDPI, and Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi — are to contest from the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol, while the DMK is pressing Vaiko’s MDMK and Velmurugan’s Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi also to contest from the ‘rising sun’ symbol.