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The Congress, which has allied with the DMK for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, will contest from 41 constituencies.
Following a 45-minute meeting between DMK leader M Karunanidhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, the partners agreed that the Congress will field its candidates in 41 of the 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The DMK and other allies will share 193.
Azad, the All India Congress Committee’s general secretary, accompanied by MK Stalin, DMK Treasurer, told media persons on Monday that both parties had signed the agreement on seat sharing following three rounds of discussions.
He expressed confidence that the combine will come to power following the elections next month and the DMK led by Karunanidhi will form the government.
He banked his prediction on an anti-incumbency trend in Tamil Nadu. “In the last few decades never has the AIADMK (ruling party) been in power for two consecutive terms. In Tamil Nadu it is always the AIADMK one year and the DMK the second. This time it is the term of the DMK-led alliance,” he said.
Stalin asserted that the DMK-Congress alliance will unseat the ruling AIADMK. Further discussions will be held on seat allotment, he added. While the anti-incumbency trend in Tamil Nadu is a factor to be considered, election watchers point out that both the DMK and Congress face an uphill battle. It was the same factor that unseated the DMK government in 2011 following allegations of corruption, particularly related to the 2G scam.
Not only did the DMK get unseated, but it even lost the position of main opposition party, a role played alternately by the AIADMK and the DMK when power shifted between the two.
The DMK contested from 124 constituencies but won just 23, and the Congress contested from 63 to win just five.
This time around the Congress has to contend with a significant split in the ranks — a reason why it has to settle for fewer seats in the coming elections. Senior leader GK Vasan, along with other prominent members, exited the party in 2014 to form a separate party, the Tamil Maanila Congress.
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