M.K. Stalin led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu entered into an agreement of sharing seats with the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam on Saturday at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Although MNM is not contesting in the LS it has secured one seat for itself in the Rajya Sabha election in 2025 whereas Congress managed to bag 10 seats for the Lok Sabha polls.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai, filmmaker cum politician Kamal Haasan and other senior leaders met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and State Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin at their party office in Chennai
Kamal Hasan’s statement on joining the Secular Progressive Alliance
After the deal was finalized MNM founder Kamal Haasan told the reporters that they had joined the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance for the welfare of the country and not for any post. He added that he will provide full support to the alliance in campaigning for the elections in 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the one in Pondicherry too.
Congress has been allotted 10 seats
The Congress was allotted 10 seats in the general elections in 2019 as well. The seat in Pondicherry was also included in them. They won all the seats except the Theni constituency which had been contested by the former TNCC (Tamil Nadu Congress Committee) President E.V.K.S. Elangovan.
Election strategy of DMK
DMK has been working on a pact with the Congress and has been able to win the majority of the seats in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 general elections and 2021 state elections as well. In 2019, DMK won 38 out of 39 seats in the state. Tamil Nadu is one of those states where the BJP-led NDA alliance couldn’t do well in the last Lok Sabha elections.
Seats allotted to other parties by DMK
The Dravidian Party has also allotted two seats each for the Communist Party of India and CPIM, two seats for the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, and one seat each for the Indian Union Muslim League and Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi.
Senior Congress leader joins BJP
In the meantime, former Congress Union minister Suresh Pachouri, who had close ties with the Gandhi family, had left the Congress and joined the BJP today in Madhya Pradesh. CM Mohan Yadav, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and the BJP MP President VD Sharma were also present there in the party office in Bhopal.
