The Hindu : Front Page : DMK to contest 21 seats, Congress 16

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Sunday, Mar 29, 2009
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DMK to contest 21 seats, Congress 16

Special Correspondent

Identification of constituencies will be done later,
says Karunanidhi

— Photo: M. Vedhan

IT’S A DEAL: AICC general secretary and in-charge Tamil Nadu Ghulam Nabi Azad greeting Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at a meeting in Chennai on Saturday. VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan is in the picture.

CHENNAI: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday finalised a seat-sharing arrangement with its alliance partners, the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Indian Union Muslim League.

DMK president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced that the Congress will contest in 16 seats (including Puducherry), the VCK in two seats and the IUML in one.

There is no agreement as yet with the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi. “As of now, the DMK will contest in 21 constituencies,” Mr. Karunanidhi said. Identification of the constituencies will be done later, he said. The seat-sharing agreement was finalised by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu and Mr. Karunanidhi in the presence of All India Congress Committee general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in-charge of the party affairs in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Azad expressed satisfaction with the agreement and said the alliance would win all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

He disagreed with a reporter’s contention that the alliance had been weakened after the exit of the Pattali Makkal Katchi. The people would vote on the performance of the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre and the DMK-led government in the State.

This is one of the best alliances we have, Mr. Azad said.

Two seats sought

“Manithaneya Makkal Katchi has conveyed to the DMK leadership that it will not settle for a single seat. We need two Lok Sabha seats and a Rajya Sabha seat. Anyway, the final decision will be taken when the party’s high committee meets on Monday,” H. M. Jawahirullah, coordinator of the party told The Hindu.

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