Congress to contest in 16 seats, DMK 21 in TN

Chennai, Mar 29: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Saturday, Mar 28 finalised a seat-sharing arrangement with its allies, the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

According to the deal, the Congress will contest 15 Tamil Nadu seats and one seat in Puducherry, the VCK, a Dalit party, got two seats and the IUML got one. The arrangement has left 21 seats for the DMK.

Announcing the accord signed by him and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K V Thangabalu in the presence of AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad, DMK chief M Karunanidhi told reporters that the constituencies to be contested by the parties would be announced later.

In the last general elections, the Congress had contested 10 seats and the DMK had contested 15 seats.

Expressing hope that that people would vote for the UPA and support it to form a government at national level, Karunanidhi said, "The alliance between DMK and Congress is the best and would win all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry."

Azad said he was satisfied with the allocation of 16 seats. He dismissed the reports that the DMK has become weaker after the exit of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).

ANI