The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress finalised a seat-sharing agreement on Wednesday for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, reported The Hindu.
As part of the pact, the Congress was allotted 28 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha berth. This means that the party will fight in three more constituencies than it did as part of its alliance with DMK in 2021.
Tamil Nadu will head to the polls in April or May. The DMK heads the state-level Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.
The allotment of seats to the Congress came after weeks of negotiations and several rounds of back-channel talks amid its strained ties with DMK, the Deccan Herald reported. The Congress had initially demanded a larger share of seats.
On Tuesday, Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was deputed by the party high command to intervene, and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief Selvaperunthagai held talks with the DMK.
The agreement on Wednesday was signed by Chief Minister MK Stalin and Selvaperunthagai at the DMK headquarters.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Selvaperunthagai said: “Right decision has been taken at the right time by the AICC [All India Congress Committee] and DMK. Based on the guidance, we have signed the deal. We are very happy and satisfied.”
The two parties have been in an alliance since 2004, except for a brief separation ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, The Hindu reported.
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