Chennai, March 4 (IANS). Ending days of talks and uncertainty, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress on Wednesday formally signed a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
According to the agreement, Congress will contest on 28 assembly seats, which is three more than the 25 seats contested under the alliance in the 2021 assembly elections.
Apart from this, Congress has also been given one Rajya Sabha seat as per the agreement between the two parties.
This agreement was signed by DMK President and Chief Minister M.K. at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai. Stalin and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K. Signed by Selvaperunthagai.
The Rajya Sabha seat given to Congress is being considered an important part of a larger political arrangement aimed at strengthening the alliance before the crucial assembly elections.
The deal was finalized after several rounds of talks between the leaders of both the parties, which were stalled for some time over the number of seats and Congress’s demand for a bigger role in the alliance.
At one time it seemed that the talks were moving towards breaking down because Congress was insisting on sharing more seats.
The hurdle was finally resolved when senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram came as an envoy of the party high command and spoke to Chief Minister Stalin on March 3.
After this conversation, both parties moved towards an agreement, which led to the final agreement. Ahead of the signing ceremony, a Congress delegation led by Girish Chodankar, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Tamil Nadu and head of the party’s seat-sharing committee, met the Chief Minister.
The delegation included TNSCC President Selvaperunthagai, Congress Legislature Party leader K. Rajesh Kumar and other senior leaders were included.
Speaking to reporters after signing the agreement, Selvaperunthagai said the party was happy with the agreement and was confident that the alliance would perform well in the coming elections.
He also said that the party high command will announce the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat given to Congress later after consulting the state leadership. Chodankar said that formal talks between DMK and Congress on seat sharing for Puducherry Assembly elections will start from March 5.
The agreement further strengthens the more than two-decade-old alliance between the DMK and the Congress, which began in 2004. Despite occasional differences, including a brief separation before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the partnership remains a significant political force in Tamil Nadu and continues to play a key role in shaping the state’s electoral environment.
–IANS
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