Tamil Nadu polls: Congress joins hands with DMK, to contest 41 seats
Chennai: Clinching a ‘fair’ deal, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday allotted 41 seats to the Congress, which exuded confidence that the alliance will form the next government in Tamil Nadu which goes to polls on May 16.
The agreement was signed by DMK President M Karunanidhi and TNCC President E V K S Elangovan in the presence of senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik, DMK Treasurer M K Stalin and party MP Kanimozhi.
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Azad with the Congress delegation met Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence and clinched the deal.
As part of the agreement, the Congress would contest in 41 seats and the list of constituencies would be decided in a week’s time. DMK and Congress leaders would begin their discussions on the constituencies from Monday evening.
After the meeting, Mr Azad told reporters that DMK would contest majority of the 234 seats and exuded confidence that under the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Mr Karunanidhi, the DMK would form the next government in the state.
“In the past few decades, the AIADMK has never been able to come to power consecutively. If AIADMK is in power for 5 years, then the DMK is given a chance. Now, it is the turn of the DMK to rule,” he said, adding that the Congress cadre would work sincerely to ensure DMK’s victory.
On his part, Mr Stalin said the DMK-Congress combine would try and ensure that the AIADMK Government is “ousted”. “As Mr Azad said we would achieve the goal of ousting the AIADMK from power in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Mr Stalin said the list of constituencies that would be allotted to the Congress will be decided by a committee comprising leaders from both parties. “The committee would start meeting from today. The first meeting would be held this evening,” Mr Stalin said.
