After holding parleys, the ruling AIADMK allotted 20 Assembly seats and the Kanyakumari Parliamentary seat to its major alliance partner BJP on Friday. AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and AIADMK co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami signed the deal along with BJP state unit president L Murugan and Tamil Nadu BJP in-charge CT Ravi.
In a late-night announcement, the parties released a memorandum and said, “AIADMK and BJP have decided to form an alliance to face the general elections on April 6. As per the talks, AIADMK is allotting 20 Assembly seats for BJP and AIADMK will also extend support to the BJP candidate who will be fielded for bye-elections to Kanyakumari parliamentary seat.”
The Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the demise of sitting MP H Vasanthakumar due to COVID-19 on August 28, 2020. In the 2014 Parliamentary elections, the Kanyakumari seat was won by BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan, who also served as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping from 2014 to 2019.
However, for the upcoming bye-election, even before seat-sharing talks are sealed with the DMK, Congress candidates are submitting applications for the parliamentary constituency. On Friday, Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram submitted an application requesting the candidature of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat in the state.
The son of H Vasanthakumar, Vijay Vasanth has also submitted an application, expressing interest to be fielded from the constituency.
DMK and Congress continue to hold talks, and there are also speculations that the state unit members have requested Congress to mull contesting alone in the polls. In 2016, Congress contested in 41 seats and won eight seats. However, DMK is currently ready to offer only 20 seats, which is half the seats number of seats contested by them in 2014. The Congress is reportedly demanding that the DMK provide at least 30 seats.
The topic of Congress contesting alone was also discussed after TNCC chief KS Alagiri made an emotional speech in an internal party meeting, said a report from The New Indian Express.