 "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Manzil - INDIA Rally (Photo: ANI)")
Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party has reached an agreement with M K Stalin's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) regarding seat-sharing in Tamil Nadu. Out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress will contest nine seats, including the stronghold of senior leader P Chidambaram, Sivaganga.
Under the INDIA alliance, parties have concluded the seat-sharing arrangement in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. As per the agreement, the ruling DMK will contest in 22 seats (including one by KDMK under the Rising Sun symbol), while the Congress will vie for 10 seats (including one in Puducherry).
The Tiruchirappalli seat will be contested by the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Other parties, such as the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VC), Communist Party of India (CPI), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), will each contest in two seats. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and MDMK will each contest in one seat.
In Tamil Nadu, the Congress will field candidates in Thiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Karur, Cuddalore, Myladuthurai, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari for the Lok Sabha polls.
"The Congress will contest elections for nine seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry. On the remaining seats, we will support the candidates of the DMK and alliance parties. We are confident of winning all seats in Tamil Nadu," Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal had stated earlier.
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On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief, MK Stalin, joined Rahul Gandhi on the concluding day of the "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra" in Mumbai. During the event, Stalin praised the efforts of the Wayanad MP and congratulated him for successfully completing the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. He commended Gandhi for 'traversing the length and breadth of India to unite the nation'.
During the previous Lok Sabha polls, the DMK-led alliance secured a landslide victory by winning 38 out of 39 seats. The Congress party managed to win eight seats out of the nine contested. While the DMK had a vote share of 33.2 per cent and the Congress' vote share was 12.9 per cent.
Voting for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil will be conducted in a single phase on April 19, according to the poll schedule released by the Election Commission of India on Saturday.
