The Congress party on Tuesday reached a seat-sharing agreement with the DMK for the Lok Sabha polls. The party will contest in 10 seats — 9 in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry.
“We had a smooth discussion and are extremely satisfied with the seats allotted,” TNCC president K.S. Alagiri told The Hindu from Delhi.
He said a senior Congress leader — Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad or Mukul Wasnik — would visit Chennai on Wednesday to make the formal announcement with DMK leader M.K. Stalin.
While the Congress leader refused to reveal details about the number of seats allotted to his party, top DMK sources said the Congress would contest in 10 seats.
Mr. Alagiri said Tuesday’s meeting was attended by AICC president Rahul Gandhi and senior leaders Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad. The DMK was represented by party MP Kanimozhi.
Earlier in the day, former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and former TNCC presidents, including E.V.K.S. Elangovan, took part in the discussions.
Other allies
The DMK now has the task of sharing seats with other partners, including the CPI(M), the CPI, the MDMK, the IUML and the VCK.
“We are planning to offer one seat each to these parties. But a final picture will emerge only after we hold talks with them,” a DMK source said.
