Chennai, March 24: Ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the NDA alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has allocated five seats to the Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar).
The agreement was finalized in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP in-charge Piyush Goyal, bringing an end to the uncertainty surrounding seat distribution.
Under this agreement, the Tamil Manila Congress will contest from the Ottanchathiram, Erode West, Ranipet, Kiliyoor, and Kumbakonam seats. Notably, the party will contest using the BJP’s ‘Lotus’ symbol instead of its traditional ‘Cycle’ symbol.
Party president K.G. Vasan stated that this decision was made due to difficulties in securing approval for their symbol as per the Election Commission‘s regulations. He emphasized that the party will contest all five seats under the ‘Lotus’ symbol, as it was not feasible to run under the ‘Cycle’ symbol given the current circumstances.
This seat allocation was finalized after some disagreements among the allied parties. The Tamil Manila Congress initially demanded five seats, while the AIADMK proposed three. However, negotiations were positive, and ultimately the party secured all five seats as requested.
The NDA in Tamil Nadu, led by AIADMK, includes several regional parties such as the BJP, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
The seat distribution process within the alliance is nearly complete, with the BJP already allocated 27 seats and AMMK 18 seats. Following the allocation, the AIADMK alliance will now focus entirely on election campaigning and candidate announcements, making the competition in the state more engaging.