CEHNNAI: DMK on Tuesday signed a seat-sharing pact with its key ally VCK, which had been bargaining hard for a higher number of seats, allotting the party eight seats, of which six will be reserved constituencies and two general constituencies.
The signing of the deal came a day after the ruling DMK inked a pact with the CPM by allotting five seats, one less than what the Left party contested in 2021.
In contrast, VCK has got two seats more than what it contested in 2021. Of the four reserved constituencies and two general constituencies it contested, it won four in the last elections.
Speaking to reporters after signing the agreement with DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin, VCK president and MP Thol Thirumavalavan said that he was satisfied with the number of seats allocated to the party.
“We conveyed the resolution passed at the party meeting to ask for double-digit seats. But, considering the limitations of the DMK due to more alliance parties joining the alliance, which is an ideological coalition at a national level to counter the right wing forces, we have whole heartedly accepted the eight seats. The victory of the alliance is as important as the interest of the VCK,” he told reporters at Anna Arivalayam.
He further said that the VCK has the responsibility to defeat the right wing alliance of the Sangh Parivar as well as forces distorting the ideologies of Karl Marx, B R Ambedkar and Periyar.
VCK on Tuesday morning had announced that it would contest alone in three constituencies in Puducherry, Oosudu, Nettapakkam and Uzhavarkarai, since the two major allies, DMK and Congress, had not come to a conclusion regarding allocation of seats to the party, causing severe mental distress to its functionaries.
He said that the DMK leadership informed them that the issue would be sorted out since there was still time to withdraw the nomination papers.
However, after meeting the Chief Minister, Thirumavalavan said that the decision was taken as the seat sharing talks did not conclude even after the time for filing nomination papers was over.
He said VCK had asked for three seats and Congress, the major ally there, did not allot any seats to them until Monday.
“So, as a precautionary measure, our functionaries had filed nomination papers in three constituencies. After the deadline was over, we were allotted only one constituency and even in that constituency, a Congress candidate has filed a nomination, who is not ready to withdraw his nomination. Hence, we were forced to take such a decision,” Thirumavalavan said.