Published 20:34 IST, February 20th 2019
Congress-DMK confirm alliance for Lok Sabha 2019 elections. Here's the seat-sharing formula
MK Stalin, chief of DMK, addressed media about the seat-sharing formula alongside KC Venugopal, who was representing the Congress
Months after announcing that they will fight together in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Congress party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) announced the seat-sharing numbers for the states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Wednesday.
MK Stalin, chief of DMK, addressed media about the seat-sharing formula alongside KC Venugopal, who was representing the Congress.
Out of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK will contest in 30 seats, leaving 9 seats for the Congress. As for Puducherry, Stalin will support Rahul Gandhi's party as he has left the only seat for the Congress. In total, DMK will contest in 30 out of the 40 seats, while the Congress will fight from 10 seats in the two states.
While the alliance between Congress and DMK was all but confirmed when MK Stalin proposed Rahul Gandhi's name as the next PM in 2018, on Wednesday, the two parties officially announced the details.
This massive political development comes just a day after the BJP sealed its alliance with DMK's premier rival in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, and other smaller parties.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal represented the BJP as he held a marathon meeting with AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam. This came after the Railways and Coal minister had met the AIADMK duo last Thursday.
It was announced that the BJP would fight in fight out of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Further, the BJP would also provide full support to the ruling party in TN during the by-polls.
"The AIADMK and BJP will have an alliance for Lok Sabha elections which will be a mega and winning alliance - BJP will contest on five seats in Lok Sabha elections and we will be contesting together in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," E Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam said.
Piyush Goyal also expressed his happiness after sealing the alliance with the AIADMK.
"We will start the chapter of Tamil Nadu with full confidence under the leadership of O Panneerselvam & E Palaniswami in state and under the leadership of Modiji in the Center. All parties together will form the National Democratic Alliance," he added.
Updated 20:53 IST, February 20th 2019