The deal was signed by Chief Minister M K Stalin and the president of the TNCC K Selvaperunthagai at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, around 8 pm in the presence of AICC in charge of Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar and a host of senior DMK leaders.
Chennai: The much awaited agreement between the DMK and Congress on seat sharing was finalized on Wednesday with the alliance leader, DMK, allocating 28 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha nomination to its prime ally, putting an end to all speculations over the possibility of the alliance snapping and the Congress aligning with the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).
The deal was signed by Chief Minister M K Stalin and the president of the TNCC K Selvaperunthagai at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, around 8 pm in the presence of AICC in charge of Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar and a host of senior DMK leaders.
Earlier, when the Congress leaders did not arrive at the DMK headquarters at the appointed hour, doubts were raised over the continuation of the tie-up itself but both the parties had agreed in advance to the numbers in principle and Chodankar, one of the vocal proponents for the demand for power-sharing that delayed the process, had come down from Delhi to oversee the process.
Indications of the agreement having worked out emerged in the morning itself with Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore putting out a message on X saying: ‘When leadership decides we accept it with discipline – because unity is our greatest strength’.
Tagore was one of the vocal advocates for the Congress demanding a share in power and a large number of seats right from the beginning. It was that campaign for power sharing that took the alliance to the precipice that needed to be pulled back from the abyss by Congress leaders like P Chidambaram with their timely intervention.
Speaking to the media after signing the agreement, Selvaperunthagai said that he was satisfied with the deal and that the process of candidate selection would start soon. However, the party would have to immediately name the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat as the nominations for it close on Thursday evening.
The finalization of the agreement on time enabled the Congress to clinch the Rajya Sabha nomination and paved the way for the DMK to expedite the seat-sharing process with the score of its other allies and launch the joint campaign by the coalition.
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