TN: DMK seals seat-sharing deal with Congress, Kamal Haasan's MNM
Tamil Nadu's ruling party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has reached a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, NDTV reported. The Congress will likely get 10 seats in the state under this agreement. An official announcement in this regard is expected later on Saturday after a meeting between Congress and DMK led by Chief Minister MK Stalin. Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan said his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), has also joined the DMK-led alliance.
Why does this story matter?
The DMK's seat-sharing agreement is a major boost for the opposition bloc, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), given that the general election is only weeks away. In the last few weeks, the bloc, led by the Congress, has finalized previously stalled deals in more than five states. This progress is in line with the goal of the INDIA bloc, which was formed to fight the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha elections.
MNM gets 1 seat for 2025 Rajya Sabha polls
The MNM has secured one seat for the 2025 Rajya Sabha elections as part of the deal as it has decided not to contest in Lok Sabha polls this year. Haasan said he joined the alliance for the country's welfare. "I have joined the DMK-led alliance for the sake of the country, and not for any post," he stated. The party will likely campaign for the alliance in Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha seats and Puducherry's single segment.
Seat allotments to other parties
The DMK has also allocated two seats each to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI-Marxist, one each to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KDMK), and two seats to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). To recall, the DMK-Congress alliance achieved significant victories in both the 2019 general elections and the 2021 state elections. As one of the key architects of the INDIA alliance, DMK aims to replicate its 2019 success in the upcoming elections.
Tamil Nadu 2019 seat tally
Tamil Nadu ranks fifth in terms of Lok Sabha seats, with 39 seats. It comprises 32 unreserved and seven reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates. It was one of the few states where the BJP-led NDA struggled to make an impression in the last general election. In the 2019 elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance won 38 out of 39 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, won eight out of the nine contested seats in 2019.
