The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu on Saturday allotted nine Lok Sabha seats out of the total 39 to Congress for the upcoming general elections, reported PTI.

The lone seat in Puducherry was also given to the Congress, as the two parties finalised their seat-sharing deal.

The Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are members of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or the INDIA bloc, that plans to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the general elections.

The current seat-sharing agreement is similar to the 2019 agreement between the parties. In 2019, the Congress had won nine out of the ten seats it contested.

On Saturday, Congress leader KC Venugopal met with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin in Chennai. Following this, he told media persons that the agreement between the two parties is about putting up a unified stand against the “divisive and anti-federal” government at the Centre.

“Under the leadership of Chief Minister Stalin, Tamil Nadu is countering the divisive forces plaguing our nation,” Venugopal said. “We have witnessed the Union government’s assaults on opposition-ruled states, targeting the pride and ethos of Tamil Nadu.”

Venugopal also said that the alliance is not “merely an electoral pact” but a binding commitment to safeguard the interests of Tamil Nadu. “We are united in our resolve to challenge the anti-people government in Delhi,” he said.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday also finalised a seat-sharing pact with actor and politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam and allocated one Rajya Sabha seat to it.

The party has also allotted two seats each in Tamil Nadu to the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the Lok Sabha polls.

It has given one seat to the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the two reserved constituencies of Villupuram and Chidambaram to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, reported The Hindu.

The Indian Union Muslim League will contest in alliance with the party in the Ramanathapuram constituency and the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi will contest in the Namakkal constituency.

The Election Commission is yet to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, the model code of conduct for the general election was imposed in the second week of March and polling took place between April and May in seven phases.

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