The Congress will also contest the lone seat in neighbouring Puducherry. (File)
Chennai:
The DMK today allotted nine Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu to the Congress as it finalised the seat-sharing formula with its allies ahead of the national elections. The Congress will also contest the lone seat in neighbouring Puducherry.
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases during April-June and Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will vote in a single phase on April 19. The votes will be counted on June 4.
The DMK has replaced three seats from the Congress’s 2019 list. Instead of Trichy, Theni, and Arani, the Congress has been allotted Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, and Mayiladuthurai this time.
The Trichy seat has been given to the MDMK from where party founder Vaiko is expected to field his son.
The Congress had lost the Theni seat to the AIADMK last time despite the DMK alliance sweeping other 38 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone segment in Puducherry.
The DMK has allotted the Ramanathapuram seat to the IUML, Namakkal to the KDMK, Dindigul and Madurai to the CPM, Nagapattinam, and Tiruppur to the CPI, and Chidambaram and Villupuram to the VCK.
The MK Stalin-led party is likely to contest the remaining 21 seats.
The AIADMK, which has snapped all ties with the BJP, is holding talks with the PMK and late actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK for a possible tie-up. Puthiya Thamizhagam, which was earlier in the NDA fold, too has switched to the AIADMK-led alliance.
The BJP, which has a negligible presence in the state, is trying to woo the PMK and the DMDK. GK Vasan’s Tamil Maanila Congress and a few smaller parties have so far joined the BJP camp.
The saffron party is counting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent visits and state chief K Annamalai’s padayatra for electoral gains in the state.