Tamil Nadu: DMK-Cong seat sharing for LS polls to be finalised by Tuesday

Chennai, Feb 25 (IANS) Seat-sharing between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be completed by Tuesday (February 27).

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President, K.Selvaperunthagai told IANS that the Congress will hold meetings with the DMK delegation led by senior leader TR Baalu on Tuesday and complete the proceedings on seat-sharing.

However, K.Selvaperunthagai who assumed office of the TNCC president just a week ago, refused to comment on the formalities of the discussions.

It may be noted that in the 2019 general elections, Congress contested in nine seats of the total 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and won eight seats losing the Theni Lok Sabha seat to AIADMK. This was the only seat that the DMK front, comprising its allies, lost in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, winning 38 seats.

The DMK leadership, according to sources, is insisting that Congress contest in seven seats only on which the Congress leadership has not agreed so far. DMK's local leaderships led by party district secretaries have insisted that the Congress doesn’t have any strength at the grassroots and that the party was riding on the DMK to win the polls. These leaders have, according to DMK think tanks, are against allocating nine seats to the Congress in the 2024 general elections.

However, a senior Congress leader privy of the discussions, told IANS that if Sonia or Rahul Gandhi makes a call to MK Stalin, the Congress is likely to get all the seats it had contested in the 2019 polls.

The DMK is also likely to complete its seat-sharing formalities with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi( VCK) and Left parties -- CPI and CPI-M -- on Monday (February 26).

It may be recalled that the DMK has already allocated the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha seat to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). IUML national president, Khader Moideenand has been announced sitting MP, Navas Kani’s candidature for the seat.

Another ally of the DMK, the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK), has also been allocated the Namakkal Lok Sabha seat. The party has however not announced its candidate for the seat..

--IANS

aal/uk