COIMBATORE: In a move that has sparked surprise and mild disappointment among local leaders, the DMK has allotted two key Assembly constituencies in Coimbatore district to its ally, the Congress, thus opting not to field its own candidates in areas traditionally seen as opposition strongholds.
DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday announced the seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly election, confirming that the Congress will contest 28 seats across Tamil Nadu, including two in Coimbatore district, Kavundampalayam and Singanallur.
The decision comes despite the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) reportedly seeking the Coimbatore North and Coimbatore South constituencies, where it hoped to take on the BJP directly in the North. Instead, the DMK has handed over Kavundampalayam and Singanallur, both considered strongholds of the AIADMK.
Coimbatore has long been viewed as an AIADMK bastion, much like Chennai is considered a DMK fortress. In the 2021 Assembly election, the AIADMK swept all 10 seats in the Coimbatore district, and the DMK emerged victorious in all 16 constituencies in Chennai, reinforcing their dominance in the respective districts.
In a bid to alter this dynamic, the DMK has fielded veteran politician V Senthil Balaji in the high-profile Coimbatore South constituency. While this move signals the party's intent to challenge the opposition's stronghold, the allocation of two key segments to its ally has raised questions about its broader electoral strategy.
Congress leaders at the local level were particularly keen on Coimbatore South, where their candidate came close in the previous election, narrowly losing to the BJP's Vanathi Srinivasan. The denial of both Coimbatore South and North has left some cadres disappointed.
Within the Congress, several aspirants are vying for tickets in the allotted constituencies. Names doing the rounds for Kavundampalayam include Suriya Prakash, G Naveen Kumar, Mahesh Kumar and Alagu Jayabalan. For Singanallur, Mayura Jayakumar, who contested in Coimbatore South in 2021, is a frontrunner, along with Karthik Thangkabalu, son of former TNCC president KV Thangkabalu.
Meanwhile, sources point out that, much like the AIADMK, the DMK too appears to have ceded opposition strongholds to its partner rather than opting for a direct contest, adding a new layer of intrigue to the electoral battle in Coimbatore.