DMK allots one LS seat each to its two allies

CHENNAI: The DMK on Saturday allotted a Lok Sabha seat each to its two allies, IUML and Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK). Both parties retained their sitting seats Ramanathapuram and Namakkal respectively.

Congress sources said its National Alliance Committee, including veterans Ashok Gehlot, Salman Khurshid, Bhupesh Baghel and Mukul Wasnik, would visit Chennai next week and seal an electoral pact with DMK. The national party is expected to get the same number of seats it contested in the 2019 election - nine plus the lone seat of Puducherry.

The TNCC, however, has given a wish list of 16 seats to DMK's alliance committee. "The Congress is keen on a double digit number of seats. And, it seems like MNM leader Kamal Haasan has to contest from one of the seats allotted to Congress or settle for a RS seat," a senior TNCC leader said.

Weeks after DMK's seat sharing committee commenced electoral talk with allies, chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin and IUML national president K M Kader Mohideen signed the seat sharing deal at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, for Ramanathapuram LS seat. The allotted seats are, however, subject to a condition, as the poll deal released to the media stated: "This list will be confirmed subject to the final allocation of seats with other allies."

Later, Mohideen told reporters that the party would renominate its sitting MP, K Navaskani. "An announcement will be made at the party's general council meeting in Trichy soon," Mohideen said. Navaskani polled 4.69 lakh votes in 2019.

KMDK's general secretary E R Eswaran signed the deal with Stalin to contest on DMK's Rising Sun symbol in Namakkal Parliamentary constituency. The party is yet to decide if it would field sitting MP A K P Chinraj, who won by a margin of 2.65 lakh votes in 2019.

Meanwhile, a MDMK delegation visited DMK headquarters on Saturday for a second round of talks against the backdrop of its request for two LS seats and a RS seat, but no concrete decision was arrived at.