Exclusive/ Lok Sabha Election 2024: DMK-Congress Spar Over Seat-share in Tamil Nadu

Chennai:  On Sunday, the parliamentary committees of both parties sat for their first round of meetings to decide upon the seat sharing for I.N.D.I Alliance in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu which has 39 parliamentary constituencies is witnessing fast-paced meetings and discussions between parties and their allies to decide on seat sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha polls that are fast approaching.

The I.N.D.I Alliance in Tamil Nadu which is a major alliance between the ruling DMK party and its important ally Congress amongst others are fighting it out to come to a consensus on the number of seats. Back in 2019, when DMK and Congress contested together, it is notable that the Congress had contested in 9 seats and had won 8 out of those. Similarly with a minimal number of seats for smaller parties in the alliance DMK being the major party had contested 20 seats and won all of them.

The 9 constituencies that the Congress contested in 2019 were, Thiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Arani, Karur, Tiruchirapalli, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Theni and Kanyakumari. Apart from Theni, where the Congress lost to AIADMK, all other constituencies were bagged by the DMK-led alliance.

According to sources, the Congress party in its first meeting that took place on Sunday (Jan 28) in Chennai, had submitted a list of preferred constituencies to the DMK parliamentary committee that they would like to contest from. The source stated that there were names of 21 constituencies in the list which is 12 more than what they had in 2019. The constituencies that the Congress had mentioned in their list include Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, Tenkasi, Dindugul, Thiruvannamalai, Thanjavur, Mayiladudhurai, Perambalur, Kallakuruchi, Kancheepuram, South Chennai and Arakkonam.

The inside source on condition of anonymity stated, “A list of 21 constituencies has been submitted to the DMK parliamentary committee. We think we have a great opportunity in all these constituencies as the support for Congress has grown multifold in these areas. Out of these 21, the demand is for Congress to be allotted at least 14 of these seats. Last time we had 9 seats that we contested from, and we won 8 which is massive. This time also we have faith that we can win in almost everything that we contest. We hope the DMK party realises our growth, particularly in the southern part of Tamil Nadu where our leader Rahul Gandhi Ji began his padayatra from that has given us a big boost”.

It is notable at this point that two important constituencies that the Congress has named are South Chennai which the BJP is considering its strong fort in the state. Similarly, speculations about how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is considering contesting from Ramanathapuram has also garnered the BJP massive support in the area and have also been named by Congress which is raising eyebrows.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee spokesperson Gopanna stated “This list or whatever that you are speaking about is false. The TNCC has not come up with any such thing. We have neither prepared a list nor have we submitted one to the DMK parliamentary committee. We will announce the seat-sharing details between the alliance parties once everything is finalised”.

Whereas a source from the DMK party stated that they have been working on allotting only 7 seats to the Congress this time which is a number that is even lesser than what was given to them in 2019. With different opinions coming in from both sides, it only looks like there is trouble in paradise for the I.N.D.I Alliance parties in seat sharing in the state of Tamil Nadu