After week-long drama, Congress finalises poll-pact with DMK in Tamil Nadu; to contest on 25 seats

CHENNAI: After dragging along its decision for almost six days, the grand old party on Sunday finally inked the poll pact with the DMK. Offering 25 seats to Congress, the DMK has put an end to the week-long drama. 

Ever since the seat-sharing talks began, Congress has been demanding 41 assembly seats. However, the DMK had reasoned that the strike rate of its ally was only 20% even if it was to get 41 seats like in the last assembly election. Moreover, Congress had lost one constituency in the 2019 general election.

After much intervention and discussions with its high command, the state unit of Congress reached an amicable agreement for 25 assembly constituencies for the upcoming polls. The party was also given the Kanniyakumari parliamentary seat where the bypoll will take place on April 26. 

"The BJP is now becoming a big disease than coronavirus in the country. In Puducherry, where the Congress had a strong base, their intrusion led to destroying the organisational structure of the party resulting in the toppling of the government. The Centre had sent Kiran Bedi here for the same purpose," AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and KS Alagiri told the reporters after signing the poll pact at the party headquarters in the presence of DMK chief MK Stalin.

"We have reached an agreement with the DMK with an intention to leave no room for the BJP to win. We are in this alliance not for the government, but to keep our ideology alive," Congress leader Gundu Rao elaborated.

“Congress has a unique influence in the state. The upcoming election is not for a change of government but it is a war of two ideologies. We (DMK-Congress combo) should win and we must defeat the ideology (of BJP). Based on the instruction of Rahul Gandhi we signed the pact.” 

Responding to the dwindling number of contesting seats in the poll-pact, Rao further said that ups and downs are common. "We shouldn’t weigh the party with the number of seats to contest on. Besides, the DMK has assured us one Rajya Sabha seat."

While highlighting the importance of a Secular Progressive Alliance, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri said, “To protect secularism, all (DMK-led alliance partners) should pull the car. The secular alliance car will be pulled by all parties and we will win on all 25 assembly seats and the Kanyakumari parliament constituency and all our alliance parties will win all the seats. To achieve this, (we) will be wide awake till we reach the goal,” he said.

AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “The DMK–Congress alliance will sweep the election and it will send the message of unity of secularist and socialist forces across the country.”

By getting 25 seats for the upcoming assembly elections, the grand old party has proved that it is the third-largest party in the state next to the Dravidian majors even after the party lost the power in the state 54 years ago.