A successful but battered alliance Premium

2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections: The DMK-Congress seat sharing agreement in Tamil Nadu has come at a cost

After days of hard bargaining, and at times pushing the alliance to the brink of collapse, the Congress in Tamil Nadu has finally sealed a seat-sharing pact with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for the forthcoming Assembly elections. The Congress, which was allotted 25 seats and won 18 in the 2021 Assembly polls, has managed to secure three additional seats and a Rajya Sabha berth from the DMK as part of the agreement.

The Congress’s hardened stance surprised even leaders in the rival camp, particularly because the party has been a constituent of the DMK-led alliance for nearly 22 years, barring a brief separation in 2014. The DMK-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu is often cited as a model alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led combine at the Centre.

Editorial | One for all: On seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election

The Congress high command, however, appeared to be quietly preparing for an experiment in Tamil Nadu despite the much-publicised bonhomie between Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who often address each other as “brother.” Throughout the roller-coaster negotiations, Mr. Gandhi kept himself away from directly dealing with Mr. Stalin. The continuation of the alliance was eventually ensured by the intervention of former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, who was asked by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi to negotiate for the party.

Congress dodges a bullet after dilly-dallying on alliance with DMK in Tamil Nadu

DMK-Congress deal: the leaders who were instrumental in breaking the stalemate