chennai:

Tamil Nadu’s main opposition AIADMK on Wednesday finalized seat-sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha polls with allies DMDK, SDPI and Puthiya Tamizhagam.

Announcing the election deal at the party headquarters, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the DMK will contest from Tiruvallur (SC), Chennai Central, Cuddalore, Thanjavur and Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituencies.

Palaniswami said that Puthiya Tamizhagam (PT) has been allocated to Tenkasi constituency and SDPI has been allocated to Dindigul constituency.

The polling agreement was signed with DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth, PT president K Krishansamy and SDPI state unit chief Nellai Mubarak.

Regarding the multiple assurances made by the DMK in its manifesto for the LS polls, Palaniswami asked whether the ruling party has fulfilled the promises made ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections and the 2021 Assembly elections.

“How many guarantees has the DMK fulfilled? Before the (2021) assembly elections, the DMK had repeatedly confirmed that it would abolish NEET in Tamil Nadu once it seized power. Three years have passed. However, the guarantees are yet to be fulfilled,” Pala Niswamy said.

Although the DMK had 38 members in the outgoing Lok Sabha, they did not put pressure on the centrists to cancel NEET. “That is why we are saying that the people of Tamil Nadu will not get any benefit even if (DMK) wins the election,” said former chief minister Palaniswami.

For the DMDK, founded in 2005 by actor-politician ‘Captain’ Vijayakanth, this will be the first election held by the party after his death on December 28 last year. His wife and DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth described the AIADMK as a “natural ally”. She said a “big winning coalition”, like the one before the 2011 parliamentary elections, had been formed again.

“This winning coalition will also continue in the 2026 parliamentary elections,” she revealed.

In 2011, when the DMDK formed an alliance with the AIADMK, the alliance created history by sweeping the polls. J Jayalalithaa became the chief minister and Vijayakanth became the leader of the opposition, she said.

2011 was a watershed year for the DMDK when it won 29 seats as part of the AIADMK-led alliance, pushing the DMK to third place in the Assembly as it secured only 23 seats. This made Vijayakanth the leader of the opposition.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)