Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday finalised the terms of an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming general election.
Nine out of the total 39 Lok Sabha seats of the state and the lone seat in Puducherry were allocated to Congress.
The Congress and the DMK are allies of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or the INDIA bloc, fighting against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the general elections.
In 2019, the Congress had won nine out of the ten seats allotted similarly.
Congress leader KC Venugopal and DMK chief MK Stalin met in Chennai to discuss the matter.
They declared the decision in front of media persons after the meeting, adding that the agreement between the parties aims at unitedly bringing down the “divisive and anti-federal” BJP government.
“We have witnessed the Union government’s assaults on opposition-ruled states, targeting the pride and ethos of Tamil Nadu,” Venugopal said.
He added that under the leadership of Chief Minister Stalin, Tamil Nadu has been effectively countering the divisive politics plaguing the nation. Venugopal emphasized that the alliance is not “merely an electoral pact”, rather the result of the collective commitment to safeguard the interests of Tamil Nadu.
“We are united in our resolve to challenge the anti-people government in Delhi,” he said.
DMK has also finalized a pact with actor and politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Neethi Maiam by allotting one Rajya Sabha seat.
In addition, the party has given two seats each to the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and one seat to the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The two reserved constituencies of Villupuram and Chidambaram have been allotted to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, reported The PTI.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will contest in the Ramanathapuram constituency and the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi will contest in the Namakkal constituency, allying with DMK.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the model code of conduct for the general election was imposed in the second week of March and polling took place between April and May in seven phases.
This time, the Election Commission is yet to announce the schedule for the elections.
 on Saturday finalised the terms of alliance with the Congress for the upcoming general election.){kind=link}