Congress will face a direct contest against the BJP in five constituencies in the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. The list of 25 constituencies allotted to the Congress was released by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President KS Alagiri on Thursday after it was signed by Congress and the DMK.
The 25 constituencies in which the Congress will contest as part of the alliance led by the DMK are - Coimbatore South, Velachery, Sriperumbudur, Aranthangi, Erode East, Thiruvadanai, Srivilliputhur, Vellore, Omalur, Salem, Killiyur, Nanguneri, Srivaikundam, Karaikudi, Vilavankodu, Uthangarai, Kolachel, Ponneri, Tenkasi, Sholingur, Vridhachalam, Udumalaipettai, Kallakurichi, Mayiladuthurai and Udhagamandalam. Of these, the Congress will directly face off with the BJP in Coimbatore South, Kolachel, Vilavankodu, Udhagamandalam and Karaikudi.
“The DMK and Congress have reached an agreement on the number of seats. The agreement has happened fully according to our wishes. This has happened in a way that gives us happiness and confidence. Therefore, TNCC expresses its thanks to MK Stalin, the leader of the Secular Progressive Alliance,” KS Alagiri told the media after signing the agreement.
The list of candidates from the Congress will be released later. Congress will also contest from Kanyakumari in the Lok Sabha bye-election. The two parties -- DMK and Congress -- earlier found themselves in a stalemate after the DMK was hesitant to increase the number of seats over 20. Meanwhile, the initial demand by Congress was 41, the same as the last Assembly polls. Congress pointed out that Rahul Gandhi, Congress’s former President, had visited Tamil Nadu and that the party will designate its complete strength towards campaigning to ensure success in all the allotted seats.
The Congress will contest from Sriperumbudur constituency and reportedly the national party was demanding the seat, which now has a memorial to late former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The former Prime Minister was assassinated at Sriperumbudur while he was addressing an election rally in May 1991.
While the constituencies are allotted by DMK to major allies, talks are ongoing with VCK and CPI (M). However, the parleys are expected to end soon since the filing of nomination begins on Friday.
The DMK-Congress also sealed the alliance in Puducherry on Thursday. In the Union Territory, Congress will contest from 15 constituencies while DMK will contest from 13 constituencies. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will go to polls on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.