Chennai: After prolonged discussions, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu Monday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assembly elections, signalling a united stance against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who heads the NDA alliance in the state, chaired the seat-sharing talks at the party’s headquarters on Anna Salai. The negotiations concluded shortly after Union Minister and BJP Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal flew in Monday for the talks with EPS.
The alliance said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 27 constituencies, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) 18, and the T.T.V. Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) 11.
The AIADMK’s own quota of seats is expected to be around 170 out of the 234 assembly seats in the contest. The final number of seats will be finalised and announced shortly, as there is a chance that the alliance may not contest all 234 seats, party sources said. The AIADMK had contested 179 seats and won 66 in the last assembly election.
The high-level meeting was attended by state BJP president Nainar Nagenthran, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss and AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, EPS expressed confidence in the alliance, saying that the NDA would deliver “good governance and development”.
The NDA’s finalisation of the seat-sharing formula is being seen as an attempt to project unity and momentum after weeks of speculation about possible disagreements within the alliance. The AIADMK is now focused on finalising its internal candidate list for the bulk of seats while ensuring the smaller allies get winnable constituencies.
AIADMK’s C. Ponnaiyan told ThePrint that further announcements would be made by EPS.
PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss spoke to the media, saying he is very confident that NDA will come to power by winning more than 200 seats out of the 234 in the contest.
He questioned the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), saying, “If the DMK has done so much for Tamil Nadu in the past five years, why do they need so many parties for an alliance? If you have done so much for Tamil Nadu, you stand on your achievements… they got any achievements except corruption, collection and commission. DMK is scared. People have already given them an opportunity for five years and people are waiting to throw them out.”
The alliance members also had separate strategy meetings, with Anbumani Ramadoss and Dhinakaran meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi earlier this week.
While those discussions focused on poll strategy rather than constituency numbers, they helped smooth out last-minute differences.
Speaking to the media after the seat-sharing talks, AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran said that the seat sharing of the NDA alliance was finalised smoothly. “I also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to discuss various issues regarding winning the elections,” he said.
The seat allocation comes after weeks of back-and-forth consultations during which the BJP had initially sought closer to 30 seats.
Speaking to a news agency, BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan said, “We are very happy. We have formed a very strong alliance and our alliance is going to win the elections.”
Slow and Steady BJP
Political observers noted that the allocation reflects the steadily expanding footprint of the BJP which has received a modest but symbolic increase from its 2021 share of 20 seats.
Political analyst Jeeva Sagapthan said that both DMK and AIADMK have allotted limited seats to national parties because the regional parties maintain their stronghold in the state and they want to limit the alliances.
“It is very clear that both Congress and BJP are being maintained by regional parties in a restricted manner. Besides certain belts in the state, the BJP does not have a strong support in Tamil Nadu. Even 27 seats are significantly higher than their share in 2021 elections. They have been eyeing the areas where there are more temples including Thirupparankundram, Srirangam, Srivalliputhur and others on lines of pro-Hindutva propaganda. While AIADMK were already established in these areas, BJP has asked for these places because they are easily winnable for them,” he told ThePrint.
PMK, with its strong Vanniyar base in northern districts, retains a significant share consistent with past alliances.
AMMK, a relatively new entrant to the NDA fold, secures 11 seats, which is a notable recognition of TTV Dhinakaran’s organisational strength in southern and central Tamil Nadu.
However, analysts also say that the removal of Annamalai as BJP chief would cost the NDA.
“EPS has won the alliance but they need to translate the alliance into a significant vote share. NDA vote share would be divided because of removing of Annamalai is a disadvantage to BJP and would be an advantage to Seeman. The anti-DMK votes would not translate to NDA but would instead profit Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK),” said political analyst Ravindran Thuraisamy.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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