<p>Chennai: The biennial elections to six Rajya Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu on March 16 is a good news for parties like the Congress and DMDK as it will give them an edge in the seat-sharing negotiations for the April-May assembly elections with the DMK and AIADMK respectively. </p><p>While the ruling DMK is poised to win three seats on its own and the fourth seat with the help of allies, the AIADMK combine has required strength to elect the remaining two numbers. As a convention, the Dravidian parties go for unanimous election of Rajya Sabha elections by forcing a contest. </p><p>The terms of DMK’s Tiruchi N Siva, N R Elango, Kanimozhi N V N Somu, and P Selvarasu, and AIADMK’s M Thambidurai and G K Vasan of TMC will end on April 2, 2026. </p><p>With the biennial elections scheduled before the assembly polls, the Dravidian majors may have to walk the extra mile in accommodating the interests of its alliance partners. </p><p>DMDK led by late actor Vijayakant’s wife Premalatha has made allotment of one Rajya Sabha berth as a key demand along with assembly seats in “double digit” in its negotiations with both the DMK and AIADMK. </p><p>While both parties seem ready to consider the RS seat, they are not willing to concede more than single digit assembly seats to the DMDK, whose vote percentage hovers around 1 to 2 per cent. AIADMK had in 2025 committed a Rajya Sabha berth for the DMDK in 2026 after it filled two vacancies that arose last year with party candidates. </p>.Election Commission sets March 16 for biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats.<p>Sources say the DMDK is likely to join the NDA with the BJP now talking to Premalatha after her talks with the AIADMK ended in a deadlock. </p><p>PMK led by Anbumani Ramadoss is also eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat this time, but the AIADMK is likely to allot only one seat for allies while keeping another for itself. </p><p>“With the strength we have, the NDA can send two MPs and both cannot be from our alliance partners. Thambidurai has expressed interest in getting re-elected and we have a long list of aspirants from the party to go to Rajya Sabha. This is a tough situation,” a senior AIADMK leader told DH.</p><p>Congress, which has 17 MLAs, will play a crucial role in electing the fourth member from the DMK alliance and the party is gearing up to seek a RS berth from its senior partner, DMK. Senior leader P Chidambaram is the lone Congress member from Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha having elected in 2022.</p><p>A Congress leader told DH that the party was expecting a RS berth from the DMK in 2025 and there was no way they will compromise on this this time around. The reason, the leader said, behind the Congress seeking about 38 seats from the DMK is to win enough number of seats to send a member to Rajya Sabha every two years.</p><p>“If we have about 30 MLAs we don’t have to depend on our allies. This time, we will certainly demand one RS seat along with 35 assembly seats,” the leader said.</p>
<p>Chennai: The biennial elections to six Rajya Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu on March 16 is a good news for parties like the Congress and DMDK as it will give them an edge in the seat-sharing negotiations for the April-May assembly elections with the DMK and AIADMK respectively. </p><p>While the ruling DMK is poised to win three seats on its own and the fourth seat with the help of allies, the AIADMK combine has required strength to elect the remaining two numbers. As a convention, the Dravidian parties go for unanimous election of Rajya Sabha elections by forcing a contest. </p><p>The terms of DMK’s Tiruchi N Siva, N R Elango, Kanimozhi N V N Somu, and P Selvarasu, and AIADMK’s M Thambidurai and G K Vasan of TMC will end on April 2, 2026. </p><p>With the biennial elections scheduled before the assembly polls, the Dravidian majors may have to walk the extra mile in accommodating the interests of its alliance partners. </p><p>DMDK led by late actor Vijayakant’s wife Premalatha has made allotment of one Rajya Sabha berth as a key demand along with assembly seats in “double digit” in its negotiations with both the DMK and AIADMK. </p><p>While both parties seem ready to consider the RS seat, they are not willing to concede more than single digit assembly seats to the DMDK, whose vote percentage hovers around 1 to 2 per cent. AIADMK had in 2025 committed a Rajya Sabha berth for the DMDK in 2026 after it filled two vacancies that arose last year with party candidates. </p>.Election Commission sets March 16 for biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats.<p>Sources say the DMDK is likely to join the NDA with the BJP now talking to Premalatha after her talks with the AIADMK ended in a deadlock. </p><p>PMK led by Anbumani Ramadoss is also eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat this time, but the AIADMK is likely to allot only one seat for allies while keeping another for itself. </p><p>“With the strength we have, the NDA can send two MPs and both cannot be from our alliance partners. Thambidurai has expressed interest in getting re-elected and we have a long list of aspirants from the party to go to Rajya Sabha. This is a tough situation,” a senior AIADMK leader told DH.</p><p>Congress, which has 17 MLAs, will play a crucial role in electing the fourth member from the DMK alliance and the party is gearing up to seek a RS berth from its senior partner, DMK. Senior leader P Chidambaram is the lone Congress member from Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha having elected in 2022.</p><p>A Congress leader told DH that the party was expecting a RS berth from the DMK in 2025 and there was no way they will compromise on this this time around. The reason, the leader said, behind the Congress seeking about 38 seats from the DMK is to win enough number of seats to send a member to Rajya Sabha every two years.</p><p>“If we have about 30 MLAs we don’t have to depend on our allies. This time, we will certainly demand one RS seat along with 35 assembly seats,” the leader said.</p>