Chennai: Signalling a more assertive posture within the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) shortlisted around 125 constituencies out of 234 that offer winning prospects in the 2026 assembly elections. This comes days after the party suffered a crushing defeat in the Bihar polls.
Sources in the Congress said the internal assessment will form the basis of the party’s seat-sharing negotiations with the DMK leadership next week.
The Congress announced a five-member committee on 21 November to handle seat-sharing talks for the state. K.C. Girish Soodankar, TNCC chief K. Selvaperunthagai, All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries Suraj M.N. Hegde and Nivethitha Alva, and Killiyoor MLA and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Rajesh Kumar held the first round of discussions on 23 November at Sathyamoorthy Bhavan.
Speaking to ThePrint, Selvaperunthagai confirmed that the committee has begun identifying constituencies where the Congress sees a credible chance of victory.
“We have started reviewing the seats the Tamil Nadu Congress should ideally contest in 2026. The focus is only on winnability. Internally, we have identified 125 constituencies where we see a strong chance of winning,” he said.
He added that the party has not yet fixed the number of seats it will demand from the DMK. “No numbers have been finalised. Once the list is ready, we will meet the DMK leadership next week for formal discussions.”
Sources indicated that this time, Congress plans to push for a larger share of seats.
A senior leader told ThePrint that the party is likely to demand at least 40 seats, pointing to its strike rate in the last assembly polls, “In 2021, we contested 25 seats and won 18. Our performance has been consistently good, where we have had organisational strength. We will reflect that in the talks.”
In the 2016 assembly election, Congress—part of the DMK-led alliance—was allocated 41 seats, but had won only eight. Similarly, in 2011, DMK had allocated 63, but the Congress had won only five.
The seat-by-seat assessment prepared by the five-member committee will be submitted to the AICC leadership before the state unit initiates formal negotiations with the DMK.
Congress leaders say the final list of “priority constituencies” will help shape both the party’s organisational strategy and its bargaining position as the alliance prepares for a high-stakes contest.
“We have sought an appointment with the chief minister. We will begin the discussion by next week itself. Formally, once DMK forms a committee to talk about seat sharing, the discussion will begin with the committee,” Selvaperunthagai told ThePrint.
When asked about it, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said that it was natural for any alliance party to seek more seats. “Seat sharing and constituency choosing process will be taken care of by the committee that will be soon appointed by the party leadership. The committee, under the guidance of our leader, will negotiate with the alliance partners,” Elangovan told ThePrint.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)