DMK allots ally Cong 9 seats in TN, one in Puducherry

Chennai, February 20

The DMK today finalised the seat-sharing exercise with key ally Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, allotting it nine seats in Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry, a day after arch rival AIADMK cobbled up an alliance with the BJP and PMK.

Announcing the pact at the party headquarters 'Anna Arivalayam' here, DMK president MK Stalin said the constituencies to be contested by the Congress will be announced later on conclusion of seat-sharing exercise with other allies. The DMK had already appointed committees to steer the alliance process, Stalin said flanked by All India Congress Committee general secretaries Mukul Wasnik, incharge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, KC Venugopal, state unit party chief KS Alagiri.

The work on seat-sharing with other allies will begin from tomorrow, he told reporters. There are a total of 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry, ruled by the Congress.

In the 2014 elections, the Congress went alone but failed to win any seat. The AIADMK won 37 seats, while the BJP and PMK one each in Tamil Nadu with the lone Puducherry seat going to AINRC.

Describing the alliance between Congress and DMK as a long-term relationship since the days of the late Dravidian patriarch M Karunanidhi, Venugopal said: "We are very happy about the seat-sharing agreement."

"The country very much needs this alliance. The entire country is disappointed with the Narendra Modi government," he said. Asked about the other parties with which the alliance will be firmed up, Stalin said DMK has decided to hold talks with "friendly outfits" which have been working together with it "on people's issues" for the past about two years. He was referring to parties, including Vaiko-led MDMK, CPI and CPM. — PTI