Tamil Nadu Assembly election 2026: DMK and Congress to seal alliance pact today

Chennai: After several rounds of back-channel talks, Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress have resolved their differences and will sign the seat-sharing pact by the end of Wednesday. Top sources told DH that the Congress is likely to be allotted 28 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha berth as part of the deal for the April-May Assembly elections.

Once the agreement is signed between the two parties, the DMK will announce candidates for two Rajya Sabha seats — already, one seat has been allotted to the new ally, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). Of the six seats that go for polls, the DMK and its allies can win four, while the Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) can win two seats. 

“The deal has been finalised,” a source in the Congress told DH. The source said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge put his foot down, saying the alliance with the DMK should continue and cannot be broken for a few seats.

While Kharge and Sonia Gandhi favoured continuing in the DMK alliance, Rahul Gandhi wanted the Congress not to compromise on the number of Assembly seats. “But Kharge prevailed over him and convinced him to agree for the deal. Sonia Gandhi also left the decision to Kharge, who has given his green signal,” the source added. 

The duo also said the DMK has been a reliable ally of the Congress and coming out of the alliance at the last minute was not fair. The argument of Kharge and Sonia was that the long-standing alliance cannot be broken over a few seats. 

“The Congress which originally demanded 41 seats later came down to 34 seats. But Kharge’s argument was that there was not much difference between 28 seats (offered by the DMK) and 34 seats (demanded by the Congress). DMK’s support in Parliament weighed heavily on his mind,” another source added.

It was at the instance of Kharge that former Union Minister P Chidambaram met Chief Minister M K Stalin at his residence on Tuesday and sought an increase in the original offer of 25 Assembly seats. Stalin told Chidambaram that he cannot allot more than two seats additionally, but it is believed that the deal will touch 28 seats.

“Chidambaram’s meeting was the icebreaker. Kharge kept AICC in charge Girish Chodankar out of the talks and opted for Chidambaram who shares a good rapport with Stalin,” the second source added. 

For the Rajya Sabha seat, the Congress is toying with the idea of nominating former Mandasur (Madhya Pradesh) Lok Sabha member Meenakshi Natarajan, whose parents migrated from Tamil Nadu. The candidature of Natarajan, who is currently the AICC in charge of Telangana, is unlikely to be opposed by the DMK as it can play the Tamil card. 

There are also chances that the Congress might field a politician from Tamil Nadu, but a final decision will be taken by Wednesday evening.