Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Friday finalised seat-sharing agreements with allies VCK and MDMK, repeating its 2019 deal. However, the party, which is a part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, is yet to clinch a pact with Congress.
MDMK was allocated one seat that will be announced later, said party founder Vaiko. DMK had allotted a Lok Sabha seat and one Rajya Sabha seat to MDMK during the 2019 elections.
VCK will contest from two reserved constituencies — Chidambaram and Villupuram — the two seats it represents in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Party founder Thol Thirumavalavan currently represents Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha. The party will also field its nominees from around 15 seats in Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, said Thirumavalavan.
The agreements with DMK president and chief minister MK Stalin were sealed at the ruling party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam said. While VCK had been seeking three seats, including a general category one, it settled for two, said Thirumavalavan.
DMK has so far finalised seat-sharing deals with allies CPI (M), CPI, IUML and KMDK, besides MDMK and VCK. The party's Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu had won 38 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, losing Puducherry.